A Kremlin "spy tsar" tipped to take interim charge of Russia as Vladimir Putin reportedly undergoes a cancer op is a hardliner who believes Europe has no future.
Unconfirmed reports have emerged claiming that Nikolai Patrushev has been handpicked by the Russian leader to take temporary charge while he is incapacitated.
There has been widespread speculation about Putin's health since the start of his disastrous invasion of Ukraine in February, with some analysts suggesting his behaviour has become increasingly erratic.
Patrushev, 70 - a former KGB counterintelligence officer branded "the most dangerous man in Russia" - was secretly nominated to take "control" by Putin, media reports claim.
He is widely viewed as an architect of the Ukraine war, and is said to have convinced the Russian president that Kyiv was awash with neo-Nazis.
Russia expert Prof Mark Galeotti branded Patrushev "the most dangerous man in Russia" in the Moscow Times, saying he "drags Putin into even more extreme positions, fuelling his ambitions with talk of Russia’s historical mission and his paranoias with warnings of Western plots".
In a recent interview with Russian state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Patrushev claimed: “Europe and European civilization have no future.”
He said: "Using their henchmen in Kyiv, the Americans, in an attempt to suppress Russia, decided to create an antipode of our country, cynically choosing Ukraine for this, trying to divide essentially a single people.
"The result of the policy of the West and the regime in Kyiv can only be the disintegration of Ukraine into several states."
The comments were understood to show that Russia was set on dismembering Ukraine.
Last month Patrushev told reporters that Putin's regime was aiming "to free the inhabitants of [Ukraine] from the oppression of fanatics, punishers, who are rampant on Ukrainian soil, real beasts in human form".
He also presented Ukrainian leaders as devilish "beasts" while lashing out at the US and Europe for supporting the besieged nation.
The Washington Examiner's Tom Rogan described Patrushev as the "true spy tsar", stating: "Put simply, Patrushev is a master of the dark arts who has an enduring impulse for aggression."
He added: "Like Putin, Patrushev takes pleasure in mind games and sometimes surreal denials of reality."
Earlier The Mirror reported that Patrushev was rumoured to have been secretly chosen to take over the reigns while Putin undergoes surgery.
The extraordinary unconfirmed claims come from General SVR Telegram channel, which first raised issues of Putin’s health - including abdominal cancer and Parkinson’s - some 18 months ago.
They come amid speculation that Putin will announce all-out war in Ukraine, and order mass mobilisation of military-age men. Such a move would be seen as high-risk since many may refuse to fight.
It is suggested Putin, 69, has already delayed surgery, which is now unlikely to take place before he presides over the grandiose Red Square 9 May Victory Day commemoration of the defeat of Hitler.
The surgery had been scheduled for the second half of April but was delayed, it was claimed.
"Putin was recommended to undergo surgery, the date of which is being discussed and agreed,” said a report from the outlet which claims to be privy to insider Kremlin information.
“There seems to be no particular urgency, but it cannot be delayed either.”
It went on: “The Russian President Vladimir Putin has oncology, and the latest problems identified during [his latest] examination are associated with this disease.”
He also suffers from “Parkinson's disease and schizoaffective disorder”.
The Kremlin has always strongly denied Putin has medical problems and portrays him in robust health, even during several mysterious absences in recent years.
The General SVR Telegram channel reported that Putin was “unlikely to agree to transfer power” but was ready to put in place a “charge d’affaires” to control Russia and the war effort.
“So, while Putin has the operation and comes to his senses…likely two or three days…the actual control of the country passes only to [Nikolai] Patrushev.”
