‘Paranoid’ Putin invaded Ukraine because he’s getting older & thinks US wants to destroy Russia, says Zelensky advisor
'PARANOID' Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine because he's getting older and believes his time is "running out," a Zelensky advisor has claimed.
The Russian president, 69, has been accused of genocide after attacks on a maternity ward and children's hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday shocked the world.
The United Nations has confirmed the deaths of more than 400 Ukrainian civilians in the onslaught so far, while up to 12,000 Russian soldiers have allegedly been killed.
Alexander Rodynasky, an advisor to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke exclusively to The Sun about the ongoing invasion and Putin's mindset.
Rodynasky said: "He is paranoid. He believes Russia is surrounded by enemies, that the US is on a mission to destroy Russia, and that he is the only force that can stop that.
"An extreme KGB mentality came to dominate him over the years.
"He knew that time was running out: he was not getting younger while Ukraine was making headways economically and in terms of its European integration.
"Putin understood that the time to act was now, or otherwise Ukraine would become too integrated with the West, and its army potentially too strong to deal with.
"He also believed that the Ukrainian populace was still sympathetic to his ideals and that a significant fraction of the population in Ukraine would welcome his troops as liberators after a series of economically tumultuous years.
"As we can now see, he was wrong on all counts. But that does not make the tragedy less for our people."
Most read in US News
The Russian tyrant expected a fast victory when he ordered the invasion at the end of February, but his forces have become bogged down and now regularly hit civilians.
It is Europe's first major war in many years and a humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Ukraine, while more than two million people have fled to nearby countries, according to reports.
Putin seems determined not to back down and is not deterred by the threat of severe economic sanctions, despite the devastating blow to Russia's economy.
"I believe Putin is driven entirely by a deeply rooted imperial ambition: he wants to restore the Russian Empire, which means getting control over Ukraine," Rodynasky continued.
"So his end game is literally to capture Ukraine by any means possible, and he did not even shy away from a military crusade that would both, directly and indirectly, ruin the state of the Russian economy.
MILITARY CRUSADE
"He does not care so much about the economy at this stage because he knows that he cannot do anything about it anymore.
"Russia has been stagnating for years, and to generate further economic growth, the country would need to transform its institutions to guarantee the protection of property rights, enforce the rule of law, and become more democratic.
"However, that would mean that Putin would lose his power, which he cannot afford to do given the excessive corruption and criminal activity that he is directly responsible for. It's a closed and vicious circle."
Rodynasky, who previously met with Hollywood actor Sean Penn who is shooting a war documentary in Ukraine, is an assistant professor of economics at the University of Cambridge but has been on sabbatical leave since early 2020.
He has spent time as a Presidential Adviser and a Supervisory Board Member of The State Savings Bank of Ukraine, which they were preparing for privatization before the invasion. He admits those plans are now "in shambles."
Rodynasky has received plenty of support online for speaking out about the invasion, and told followers on Twitter on Thursday: "When will the families of Russia's killed soldiers start putting pressure on the regime for the bloodshed to end?
'BLOODSHED NEEDS TO END'
"This number almost matches the Soviet losses during ten years of the Afghan War. ... Still, there is little hope so far that those families will exert any political pressure."
Meanwhile, President is under pressure for the US to do more to help Ukraine as civilians continue to be bombed each day and has already authorized $350M in military aid.
He has banned all imports of Russian oil and gas, declaring "defending freedom is going to cost," and raised the level of US troops in Europe to about 100,000, but he's determined not to start a third world war.
In a State of Union address earlier this month, he said: "Putin's war was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected repeated efforts at diplomacy.
Read More on The Sun
"He thought the West and Nato wouldn't respond. And he thought he could divide us here at home," adding defiantly: "Putin was wrong. We were ready."
After speaking to Ukrainian President Zelensky hours before his speech, he added: "Let each of us... stand and send an unmistakable signal to Ukraine and to the world."
