Retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman said that he believes the Russian invasion into Ukraine marked the “beginning of the end” for Russian President Vladimir Putin as casualties from the war grow.
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Vindman, who fled Ukraine with his family when he was 3, said he thinks “this is the beginning of the end of Vladimir Putin” during an interview on the New York Times’s podcast “The Argument.”
“What we haven’t started to bake in yet, and what the Russian public hasn’t start to bake in, is this devastating human toll. This is the fact that Ukrainian cities are being bombarded. Civilians are being killed.”
“And if, in fact, there are 4,500 Russian dead and those body bags start coming back, or mothers start to ask about their children, that’s going to be untenable,” he said.
Vindman said he believes that the Russian leader made a series of miscalculations when he decided to invade the former Soviet nation one week ago.
“I don’t think he cared that much, but that was another major miscalculation. You make decisions based on assumptions. A fundamental assumption was that the Ukrainians would roll over. A fundamental assumption was that the West would be weak in its response,” Vindman told podcast host Jane Coaston.
“A fundamental assumption would be that the Russian population would take it because security services and repression of dissent,” he continued. “Those are three massive, massive miscalculations.”
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Vindman said that Putin had a “deep misunderstanding” of the West’s willingness to defend its interests and a misunderstanding of the ability of Ukraine to defend itself.
“And all of these things coming together into a huge, huge trap for Vladimir Putin. He’s consolidated the entire free world against him in condemnation and inaction,” he said.
“So that’s the sanctions that are unfolding and these weapons provisions that are unfolding. And that’s something that, ultimately, he might be remembered for, both this horrendous war, but also for bringing the democratic world together in defense of our values,” Vindman continued.
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- Discussion
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Vindman: This is the "beginning of the end" for Putin https://t.co/DnVP90HnFP pic.twitter.com/vFPFm9TYKo
— The Hill (@thehill) March 3, 2022
The signs indicate Putin is after regime change in Ukraine, and has gambled his career, legacy, and possibly life on it. He likely thought it'd be easier, and that the West wouldn't hold together on economic punishment. But he's committed.
As bad as it's been, I dread what's next https://t.co/3fVwvBFb50— Nicholas Grossman (@NGrossman81) March 3, 2022
Putin going full Baghdad Bob here. https://t.co/eI2zM2wFSR
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 3, 2022
Putin speaking to his security council.
"I will never abandon my conviction that Russians and Ukrainians are one people […] but the way the battle is going shows we are fighting neo-Nazis."
He claims Ukraine is using civilians and foreigners as "human shields." pic.twitter.com/spgZV9U1MC
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 3, 2022
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