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Putin's advisers are currently preparing for his presidential campaign in the lead up to March's election, insiders told\u00a0Reuters.<\/p>\n
The election is a formality if he runs – with the support of the state, the state media and almost no mainstream public dissent making his win certain.<\/p>\n
But experts warned that Putin "won't settle for a frozen<\/span> conflict" in Ukraine and "won't leave the war undone".<\/p>\n Since first becoming\u00a0Russia's president,\u00a0Vlad\u00a0has prided himself on his strongman image and has surrounded himself with other "hard men".<\/p>\n The failing war in Ukraine is not how he will want to be remembered – meaning he could take drastic action. <\/p>\n It means he could use his expected re-election and cementing of his iron fist power in March to ramp up the war – or even invade other countries. <\/p>\n Dr Stephen Hall, an expert on Russia at the Henry Jackson Society, said the Russian leader staying in power would spark "an escalation in the aggression against Ukraine<\/span> and the West".<\/p>\n "There is a possibility that he would use a small nuclear weapon that would take out a block out of Kyiv or Kharkiv," he told The Sun. <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n "For Putin, this is existential. <\/p>\n "He won\u2019t settle for a frozen conflict, there is going to be Russian antipathy towards Ukraine as long as Putin remains in power."<\/p>\n Although he added that the use of a nuclear weapon on London or Berlin seemed unlikely, he said: "There is a potential that Putin would want to invade other countries.<\/p>\n "There is the possibility that he will not stop in Ukraine. He is likely to move on places like Kazakhstan or Moldova, or possibly Georgia.<\/p>\n "He would like to weaken the West. Putin will certainly look for ways to try and destabilise the West."<\/p>\n Professor Vladislav Zubok from the\u00a0London School of Economics added: "Military experts don\u2019t see how the war can be escalated in a conventional way. <\/p>\n "So people raise the issue of nuclear weapons\u2026 well, that would be the end of the world we know."<\/p>\n Russian and Eurasian security expert Emily Ferris said the West would be \u201cfoolish\u201d to ignore Putin\u2019s nuclear threats.<\/p>\n According to Ferris, such extreme reactions and threats are because of what the war has come to symbolise for Putin.<\/p>\n "Putin can\u2019t leave the war undone because that would become his legacy," she said. <\/p>\n "He is concerned with how he is going to be remembered."<\/p>\n Putin's expected re-election bid follows his unveiling of the Russian model of the most powerful nuclear weapon to have ever been created.<\/p>\n At his exhibition \u201cRussia\u201d, designed to showcase his achievements, Putin has put on display a model of the notorious 50-megaton Tsar Bomba detonated in 1961.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dubbed the \u201cKing of Bombs\u201d, the weapon had been created to prove that Soviet scientists had caught up to the West in terms of destructive power.<\/p>\n The mega-bomb has over 3,000 times more energy than the nuclear bomb that fell on Hiroshima.\u00a0<\/p>\n The model being put on display now, along with the announcement of Putin's presidential bid, has been regarded by many as a signal of the Russia<\/span>'s hostility to the West.<\/p>\n Ferris predicts Putin\u2019s re-election will bring with it an increasingly intolerant, patriotic and militarised society in Russia – and one that seeks to project their power.<\/p>\n She also believes Russia will continue pivoting towards the Middle East. <\/p>\n Relationships were formed over a decade ago – but they have been accelerated as Russia loses allies in Europe over the war.<\/p>\n Last month, a delegation of Hamas officials visited the Kremlin in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks.<\/p>\n Putin has been accused of lending legitimacy to the terrorist organisation, but this should come as no surprise given their longstanding military ties with Hezbollah.<\/p>\n The Kremlin has refused to condemn either organisation, and has instead chosen to play on the chaos caused.<\/p>\n Dr Hall said: "Russia knows that Western attention is relatively short lived. Ukraine\u2019s been in it for two years and they know that western attention will move on from their war. <\/p>\n "The Middle East is a very good palisade in regards to that. It is very useful for Russia.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can see that it has strong relationships with the Middle East, with Hezbollah and even Hamas. <\/p>\n "These relationships will be used to destabilise the situation in other regions and avert the West\u2019s attention from Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael Hamas benefits<\/span> the Kremlin. I'm not saying it was master-minded there, but it has been very useful for Putin that the West\u2019s attention has been moved on to Israel.<\/p>\n "The absolute worst mistake the West can do now is to stop supporting Ukraine."<\/p>\n Two years into the war with Ukraine, which has been a shambolic experience for Putin, the autocrat is now desperately seeking to protect his legacy.<\/p>\n Russian scholar and journalist Dr James Rodgers warned that relations with Russia and the West will never improve as long as Putin remains in the Kremlin – which, he says, is for the foreseeable future<\/span>.<\/p>\n He told The Sun: "The political system in Russia that Vladimir Putin<\/span> has constructed over the last, almost quarter century is based around one man: him."<\/p>\n Dr Rodgers explained that Putin altered the Russian constitution via national vote in 2020, which gave him the opportunity to reset two terms and thereby run again for president in 2024 and even in 2030.<\/p>\n That means he could theoretically stay in power until 2036, by which time he'd be 83 years old.<\/p>\n But with high\u00a0approval ratings inside Russia, the reign of terror may only end when the tyrant dies.<\/p>\n Dr Rodgers said: "There are no challenges, and the system doesn\u2019t allow for any opposition.<\/p>\n "I think that anybody watching how the Wagner Mutiny unfolded will have drawn the conclusions that they were supposed to: that is, if you publicly oppose Vladimir Putin, you are going to pay for it. <\/p>\n "And as Yevgeny Prigozhin found out, you are going to pay for it with your life."<\/p>\n Putin has already served as president for longer than any other Russian ruler since Josef Stalin – \u00a0beating even Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year tenure.<\/p>\n Opinion polls show the tyrant has approval ratings of 80 per cent inside Russia – despite his stalling invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\nread more Putin<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture>\u2018OFF-COURSE' <\/span><\/p>\nVlad's missiles failed during testing as he deployed Satan-2, Ukraine claims<\/h3>\n
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<\/picture>DEAD MAN WALKING <\/span><\/p>\nPutin seen for first time since Kremlin forced to deny he was DEAD<\/h3>\n
Most read in The Sun<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture>NOT LONG NOW <\/span><\/p>\nI’m A Celebrity 2023 start date revealed – and it’s just DAYS away<\/h3>\n
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<\/picture>SENDING LOVE <\/span><\/p>\nLorraine mourns ‘saddest news’ as ITV colleague dies months after giving birth<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24640057-1699214231612.jpg\")
<\/picture>STRICT EXIT <\/span><\/p>\nStrictly shock as favourite is axed & Claudia brands dance-off ‘closest ever’<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/DF-SPORT-PREVIEW-COOPER.jpg\")
<\/picture>‘WHOLESOME’ <\/span><\/p>\nSteve Cooper reaches out to distraught Forest fan after playing The Last Post<\/h3>\n
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