VLADIMIR Putin has clung onto power in a sham election that experts warn has offered the bloodthirsty tyrant a mandate for all-out war.
With opposition silenced, an emboldened Putin will now begin his full-scale mobilisation to unleash a new wave of terror across Ukraine and its allies.
Prominent Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky told The Sun: “Putin plans to use the falsified results of the vote as carte blanche for any actions in the war against Ukraine.”
It was the first parliamentary election to take place since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine able to vote.
But they could not vote against the war, and neither could residents of Russian-occupied Crimea, which Mad Vlad annexed in 2014.
Russians were given the choice between Putin’s party, United Russia, and nine others – all of which supported the war.
Yabloko, the only mildly anti-war party, was allowed to participate but was quickly removed from the election after it began rapidly gaining
support in the polls.
Khodorkovsky, an exiled Russian businessman who spent 10 years in a Siberian prison after clashes with Putin, has emerged as a leading figure in opposition circles operating outside of Russia.
He said: “Putin interprets the results as evidence that the majority of the population supports his rule and the continuation of the war.
“He needs to take a number of unpopular measures at home — mobilising both the population and the economy — and he will now use the result of the vote as a mandate from the public to take these steps.”
Putin’s generals have reportedly asked for an additional 800,000 troops following the elections.
It comes amid reports the desperate tyrant is plotting the worst winter blitz yet in a brutal bid for victory.
As Russia gears up for a fresh offensive to break the front-line deadlock, Putin is desperately trying to thwart European support for Ukraine.
Moscow has ramped up pressure on Nato states in recent months, with Western officials accusing the Kremlin of reckless drone incursions and sabotage.
In one of the starkest warnings yet, Danish intelligence said Russia could launch a military attack against a Nato state in just months.
The service said Russia could launch long-range strikes on Nato infrastructure or carry out an incursion into a neighbouring country, in a report published Thursday.
It came hours after a fire at a Starlink satellite station in central Poland that local authorities described as an “act of sabotage”.
Weeks earlier, Nato jets scrambled to shoot down a drone in Lithuania, a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish defence helicopter and a suspected Russian drone washed up on a Polish beach in a triple overnight threat.
And in August, Germany publicly blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport.
Khodorkovsky said: “Regardless of the election results, Putin’s hybrid war against the West is a new reality that will continue for as long as Putin remains in power.”
This will take different forms from paramilitary provocations to sabotage, subversion, election interference and cyber attacks, he added.
Khodorkovsky said: “There is no longer any doubt that the regime plans to expand its use of terrorist methods and contract political killings.”
The Danish services said Russia could seek to test Nato’s article 5, which commits members to collective defence.
It comes amid fears that the alliances most powerful member, the US, would not support Europe in the event of a Russian attack.
Professor Dr Ulrich Schlie, the director of the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) said the West must be prepared to counter the Russian threat.
He told The Sun: “We have seen hybrid warfare in Germany to the surprise of some of my compatriots, most recently in Leipzig and elsewhere.
“And we will see more of the same from the Russian army in the years to come.
“Putin’s course has been set. He’s been waging a shadow war against NATO and the UK for decades.
“We have to be prepared.”
Despite Putin’s election steal, the reality of his leadership is fuelling rising anxiety at home and cracks are beginning to emerge within the Kremlin.
Ukraine’s latest long-range strike campaign has reached Moscow – including the biggest wave ever launched against the capital as voting took place.
Kyiv has spent the summer blitzing oil depots with state-of-the-art drones, before shifting its crosshairs to a series of strikes that have crippled Russia’s largest e-commerce platform.
The attacks have tanked Russia’s already reeling economy – wiping out businesses, suffocating trade and sparking nationwide fuel shortages.
Khodorkovsky said: “Putin has very serious economic problems.
“They are not so severe that people will run out of food tomorrow, but they are serious enough to forget about economic growth and
technological progress.
“Russian society has begun to feel that Russia is at war and that its citizens are living in a country at war. Dissatisfaction with the authorities is growing.
“This does not mean that Russian society will rise up tomorrow, overthrow Putin and end the war. But Putin’s situation is becoming more difficult.”
Russia has suffered 1.4 million casualties including 500,000 deaths since invading Ukraine in 2022.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/17058471/putin-rigged-election-unleash-hell-nato/