VLAD’S END? BLACK SWAN

VLAD’S END Putin will be ousted in ‘Black Swan’ palace coup over botched war – and could vanish tomorrow, warns former CIA chief 

VLADIMIR Putin will be toppled in a "Black Swan" palace coup over his "standstill" Ukraine war, a former CIA chief has warned. Jack Devine, 83, said he wouldn't be surprised if the Russian tyrant, 71, "disappeared tomorrow". Fears of a coup have been lingering over Putin and the Kremlin since Mad Vlad ordered his troops to invade Ukraine in February last year - with the grinding war exposing cracks in his increasingly shaky grip on power. The Russian leader has faced an armed uprising from Wagner warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, a spate of sabotage attacks from anti-Russia partisans, and survived a number of alleged assassination attempts. Experts have warned that Putin may not see another birthday as he’d rather "end it all with his golden pistol" than face the humiliation of a coup. But the chance of a coup from his inner circle is increasing as he faces down the prospect of a "permanent stalemate" in Ukraine, according to Devine. Devine, who worked for the CIA for 32 years, told The Sun: "It'll be a surprise. There's always what we call a 'Black Swan' that appears from nowhere. "Putin could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't be surprised if some element in the government had decided they were going to take executive action. "But failing a 'Black Swan' I believe his troubles begin when there's a stalemate and that's right now. "I don't think it'll be an uprising. I think it'll be a what we might call a palace coup." Source