ADMIN
A frustrated Vladimir Putin has now appointed his cousin with zero military experience as Russia's new defense minister.
The tyrant today handed command to niece Anna Sivileva, 52, after brutally sacking top ministers in a major shake-up.
In the latest blow to the Russian war administration, Putin has fired Deputy Defense Ministers Nikolai Pankov, Ruslan Salikov, Tatiana Shevtsova and Pavel Popov.
They lead the ministry after the dictator ousted his longtime ally Sergei Shoigu last month.
It is understood that Anna, the daughter of Putin's late cousin Yevgeny Putin, will now oversee Russia's defense and be responsible for improving social and housing support for military personnel.
She is married to Sergey Svilev who most recently served as energy minister during Putin's regime.
He was appointed as one of several deputy defense ministers by Putin after Shoigu was fired – and is set to serve under another top friend of Putin's, Andrei Belousov.
A psychologist by education, Anna heads the Defenders of the Fatherland, a group formed to “help” participants in the Russia-Ukraine war.
So far, the group, founded by Putin amid his illegal war against Ukraine, has raised around £89m. The Times Report
In 2022, Svileva was sanctioned by the UK government for her links to Putin.
Putin appointed Pavel Fradkov, son of former prime minister and spy chief Mikhail Fradkov, as his first deputy chief of presidential affairs.
Meanwhile, a bombshell claims Putin may be grooming his alleged nine-year-old son for power as he plans a dynastic succession.
Rumor has it that he wants to bring his two eldest daughters into power to serve as potential “regents” should his health fail.
Putin wants his undisclosed and hidden son, Ivan, to continue ruling Russia until he turns 18, and he hands him the reins of the Kremlin as the country's new czar.
It involves changing the Russian constitution – which Putin had no problem editing before – which dictates a president must be over 35.
The strange accusation comes from a Russian lawyer, former MP and political pundit Mark Feigin, 52, who once represented the iconic anti-Putin punk band Pussy Riot.
Speaking to Ukrainian TV host Dmitry Gordon, who questioned Boris Johnson in Kiev last week, claimed that Putin has two young sons with his long-term gymnast mistress Alina Kabaeva, 40.
The paranoid and private aging ruler has only publicly claimed to have two high-flying flings with his first wife – but is rumored to have at least six children.
The dictator's eldest allegedly secret son, Ivan, is believed to be nine years old and already primed for the presidency.
He has long been rumored to have been born in an exclusive private clinic in Switzerland.
The other – Vladimir Jr – was reportedly born four years later in 2019 in Moscow, with the same Swiss-based Soviet-born doctor Dr Natalya Thiebaud Kondrativa, 63, in charge of the delivery.
Russia-Ukraine War
Russia saw two bloody days of its meat grinder war after losing more than 2,500 men in just 48 hours.
The death toll increased after Western countries authorized Ukraine to launch armed attacks inside Russia.
Kiev says Russian casualties have topped 1,000 per day since Moscow launched a new offensive on Kharkiv on May 10.
Ukrainian forces are reported to have killed 512,420 Russian soldiers and destroyed 7,794 tanks, 15,020 armored fighting vehicles and 13,345 artillery pieces since the start of the war.
A humiliated Putin now admits that thousands of Russian soldiers are dying in Ukraine every month in a shameful admission.
Kiev is widely using US-made ATACMS rockets to target targets inside Russia.
A series of deadly missiles were fired at Putin-held Luhansk as loud explosions rocked the city, sparking panic.
The ATAMC rocket carries a 500lb warhead and can reach a target 300km away in just five minutes.
The deadly 2,300mph missile gives Ukraine almost twice the striking distance of the mid-range version of the weapon it received from the US last October.
The US is also supplying the front with HIMARS missiles to destroy Putin's S300 launchers.
Dramatic footage showed HIMARS blasting key military targets and destroying up to three of Moscow's S300 rockets used by forces fighting in Kharkiv.
In response, the dictator threatened to send long-range missiles to his allies to counter the West's decision to allow his enemies to use lethal weapons against his troops on the front lines.
The decision to allow cross-border attacks is a game-changer for the West
Western nations have allowed Ukraine to use their weapons to attack Russia inside in a game-changing move.
Ukraine wants to ask its allies to lift more restrictions on using their weapons against Russian targets, according to its foreign minister.
US President Joe Biden recently authorized Ukraine to use US-made weapons for attacks inside Russia, as Putin's forces continue their assault on Kharkiv and seek to seize more Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine is now seeking further approval from its allies regarding its right to use its weapons against Russian targets.
Ukraine has previously been banned from using Western-supplied weapons for attacks outside its borders, as some leaders fear such attacks could escalate a brutal conflict with Putin.
But some NATO countries have softened their stance in the wake of Russia's new offensive in northeastern Kharkiv.
Ukrainian officials argued that they could not prevent the attack because of Western restrictions on the use of their weapons.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked Ukraine's Western allies for permission to use their weapons on Russian soil.
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