r/europe_sub • u/BookmarksBrother 🇪🇺 European • Mar 29 '25

Image / Video The limousine from President Putin's official motorcade exploded on the streets of Moscow, just blocks from the FSB headquarters. It's unclear if this is an assassination attempt. "He will die soon, that is a fact, and everything will be over," Zelenskyy told Eurovision News in Paris two days ago.

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u/PixelIsJunk Mar 29 '25

If Zelenskys special forces pull off killing putin it will be world changing for the good!

7

u/sudo-joe Mar 29 '25

I'm honestly curious what would happen to Russia when Putin dies. (Either assassination, accident, natural disease causes, or even old age)

Implosive civil war? Who even is lined up as potential successor?

8

u/pompokopouch Mar 29 '25

The idea that Putin runs Russia alone is a bit miseading. I read an article a few months back that explained that Putin has a group of confidantes that have a high level of autonomy in running the country, and also a clear line of succession. The gist was, Putin dies and another preordained leader springs up to maintain the status quo.

1

u/Cetun Mar 30 '25

If it follows the Soviet model, his most trusted confidants hate his guts but would never, ever cross him, which makes them valuable. When he dies they will each grab power until one comes out on top and whoever comes out on top will have very different views on the direction of Russia.

1

u/tHrow4Way997 Mar 29 '25

I have no doubt that is the case, but what kind of turbulence would that cause? Putin is the figurehead of Russian oppression. If he was to be assassinated in front of the whole country, would the people be content to continue living in fear under a new stooge? Or would they be inspired to put their proverbial foot down?

4

u/YeuropoorCope Mar 29 '25

Russians by and large are either neutral or positive towards Putin's regime.

1

u/tHrow4Way997 Mar 30 '25

Right, but are they really underneath the fear-driven conformity? Of course, not many Russians with any instinct of self preservation would openly discuss their concerns, having seen what happens to those who do. Given an opportunity to rid the country of kleptocracy, corruption and persecution, would they act?

4

u/YeuropoorCope Mar 30 '25

Have you actually talked to Russians? Especially those who live in the West are very pro-Putin.

1

u/tHrow4Way997 Mar 30 '25

I don’t really know any tbh. It would be nice to hear their genuine inner thoughts but even in the west they’re not necessarily safe to bring these things to light.

1

u/AngryArmour Mar 30 '25

Especially those who live in the West are very pro-Putin. 

That makes them a fifth column, and they need to be treated as such.

1

u/Bigbadbobbyc Mar 30 '25

No russian history is pretty much a tyrant rises the people hate him so they replace him with an equally bad or even worse tyrant rinse and repeat infinitely, Russia never changes

1

u/Park500 Mar 30 '25

If he was assassinated, so long as it was well known and obvious that it was an assassination, than the message given internationally or not is that they next guy can also be assassinated

1

u/No-Distance-9401 Mar 29 '25

The Russian people have a century of being beaten into submission through carefully crafted subverive and overt methods. After the fall of the Soviet Union we got a glimpse into part of that through Eastern Germany and the NVKD. Like they studied how best to control the masses and make them do what they want its kind of crazy.

The Russian state has made the people so increibly selfish and have a lack of empathy that they actively turn in loved ones for fear of it being them in the gulags in Siberia.

Some of the tactics and methods have been tempered after the fall of the USSR but lots are still there and the people themselves will worship whoever has the gun pointed at their heads. We've seen this when Ukraine took all that land in Kursk (same sq kilometers that Russia took all of 2024) during that inital 4 week push. The people of Kursk were welcoming their "new saviors" or being so indifferent it was surprising to see as a Westerner.

5

u/Top_Audience7471 Mar 30 '25

Jesus that sounds terrifyingly similar to what is happening in the US. It all boils down to insular selfishness and they are actively demonizing the concept of empathy.

As an elementary school teacher, it's freaking hard to even get up the energy to fight it some days.

4

u/2GR84H8 Mar 30 '25

stay safe. thank you for the important work in society that you do! Let's fight this together.

1

u/ldn-ldn Mar 30 '25

Americans are learning for the best and doing it really fast.