Call for Putin to be replaced… on state TV: Extraordinary criticism is levelled at Vladimir

A Russian politician has launched an extraordinary attack on Vladimir Putin, calling for the despot to be removed from office and replaced during an appearance on state television.

Opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin, who has criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said on Russia’s NTV channel that the Russians should elect another leader in the country’s 2024 elections.

“We have to choose someone else, not Putin,” said the outspoken Nadezhdin. ‘Then everything will be alright.’

It was the first time since the start of the war in February 2022 that someone on Russian state-sanctioned TV called for Putin’s replacement, the British Defense Ministry said.

Nadezhdin said that under Putin’s rule “there is no way for us to return to Europe.”

Nadezhdin said a different government would allow Russia to “build relations” with European countries and “everything will return to its place”

It was the first time since the start of the war in February 2022 that someone on Russian state-sanctioned TV called for Putin’s replacement (pictured Thursday), the British Defense Ministry said.

“We just have to choose other authorities to run the country that wants to stop this story with Ukraine,” he told NTV, one of Russia’s three main state broadcasters.

Nadezhdin said a different government would allow Russia to “build relations” with European countries and that “everything will return to its place.”

Putin propagandist and co-anchor Ivan Trushkin quickly tried to interrupt Nadezhdin by replying, “I expected you to say all this word for word.”

But undeterred, Nadezhdin said, “We have to choose someone else [in the 2024 presidential elections], and not Putin. Then everything will be alright.’

While Putin’s propagandists have openly criticized the state of the Russian military and war effort, they have refrained from condemning Putin – but Nadezhdin has done just that.

‘Nadezhdin has been an outspoken critic of the war since the invasion [began]but this is most likely the first call for Putin to be replaced on Russian state-sanctioned TV since the beginning,” the UK Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence briefing.

Nadezhin, a deputy from the Moscow municipality, is a regular on Russian state television and in January said the war was a “pointless situation.”

The former State Duma representative has also said in the past that it is “absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using the means and methods of colonial warfare [Russia has]’.

And criticism of Putin’s war has increased in recent months, with British defense chiefs suggesting it could be due to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s consistent rants about Russian leadership.

“In the past 15 months, Russia has introduced restrictions on freedom of expression not seen since Soviet times,” the defense ministry said.

“However, there is a realistic possibility that recent vitriolic rhetoric from nationalist figures such as Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin encourages opposition members to denounce taboo subjects.”

On Tuesday, Prigozhin unleashed an explosive rant of swear words against Vladimir Putin’s cronies after Moscow was attacked by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones.

A Ukrainian soldier fires a mortar into Russian positions on the frontline near Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on Monday.

The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin (pictured May 5) today unleashed an explosive diatribe against Vladimir Putin’s cronies

In a furious 70-second diatribe, Prigozhin shouted vulgar insults at Russian defense officials, describing them as “stinking bastards” and “b******.”

The Wagner boss said he was “deeply outraged” by Putin’s troops doing “f*** all” to prevent explosive drones from dropping on the Russian capital this morning. Soon after, Putin claimed that Moscow’s air defense system was operating “satisfactorily.”

Known for his foul-mouthed tirades, Prigozhin, who handed Bakhmut over to the Russian army last week, was translated as yelling, “Smelly bastards! What are you doing? Come out of the offices where you have been posted to protect this country.

‘You are the Ministry of Defence. You’ve done f*** all to move on. Why the fuck are you flying these drones to Moscow? Who cares that they fly to your houses on Rublyovka! Let your houses burn.’

And what are ordinary people supposed to do when drones with explosives crash into their windows? So as a citizen I am deeply outraged that these scum sit quietly with their fat asses smeared with expensive creams.

“And that’s why I think people have every right to ask them these questions, this b******.

“But I have warned many times about this, but no one will listen. Because I’m angry and I’ve upset bureaucrats who have great lives.”

Its astonishing collapse came after several buildings in Moscow’s affluent suburbs were damaged by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones just hours after Putin unleashed another volley of attacks on Kiev.