00:00Opposition Leader Kasparov, Ukraine's victory will end Putin's regime.
00:05Kiev, July 2nd, Russian Opposition Leader and former World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov
00:11has declared that Ukraine's victory in the war is imminent and will mark a historic turning point
00:17not only for Ukraine, but for all of Europe and Russia itself.
00:21In an interview with Polish broadcaster TVP World published on July 2nd,
00:26Kasparov, chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative,
00:30and a longtime critic of Vladimir Putin,
00:32warned that Russia's defeat in Ukraine is a question of when, not if,
00:36and that the end of the war will mean the end of Putin's regime.
00:41Putin is war.
00:43Kasparov, ranked as one of the greatest chess players in history,
00:46delivered a stark assessment.
00:48Putin has no intention of ending the war,
00:51and the conflict will continue as long as he remains in power.
00:55Putin has no intention of ending the war, even in the current circumstances.
01:00Kasparov said.
01:01The end of the war would mean the end of his reign.
01:04He described Russia as having been fully militarized.
01:08War in Russia is everywhere, from kindergarten to the top of the government.
01:12It's in the air in Russia.
01:14And if there are some people that are willing to end it,
01:17it's not going to affect the general mood.
01:20Kasparov rejected the notion that growing domestic discontent might lead to peace.
01:26The war will end only when Putin's resources have been totally depleted,
01:30which means also the end of Putin, he said.
01:33A defining year.
01:35According to Kasparov,
01:372026 is shaping up to be a defining year for the formation of a new world order.
01:42The idea that Putin cannot win the war is now taking hold among Russian elites and ordinary citizens alike,
01:49a development he described as historically significant.
01:52It's a Russian tradition that a bad war always leads to change, he told RBC Ukraine.
01:59Now we are seeing a situation where many people, both in the elite and among ordinary citizens,
02:05are beginning to understand that Putin cannot win the war.
02:09And when a dictator starts a war he cannot win,
02:12according to the laws of history, he begins to face major problems.
02:16He added,
02:18The Russian tradition does not forgive a czar or dictator for a lost war.
02:23The imperial virus.
02:25Kasparov has long argued that Russia's defeat is the only path to peace.
02:30In a conversation with the Kiev Post,
02:33he framed the war as a battle against what he calls Russia's imperial virus,
02:37a toxic nationalism that will continue to threaten its neighbors,
02:41regardless of who sits in the Kremlin.
02:43As long as the Russian Empire exists, the war will not stop,
02:48he said at the Kiev Security Forum in April.
02:51Nothing can stop this regime except Ukraine's absolute victory.
02:55The only way to dismantle Putin's regime and destroy this imperial virus
03:00is the Ukrainian flag in Sevastopol.
03:03Kasparov expressed confidence that 2026 will be a transitional year,
03:07the outcome of which will reveal
03:09the contours of a new security architecture and geopolitical cooperation.
03:14He emphasized that the current world order,
03:17established after World War II,
03:19actually ceased to exist in 2014,
03:21following Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea
03:24due to the lack of a decisive response from the West.
03:27A warning on escalation.
03:30While Kasparov believes Ukraine's victory is inevitable,
03:33he warned that Putin is unlikely to accept defeat quietly.
03:36I think the chances of Putin trying his luck by attacking NATO countries,
03:41primarily the Baltic countries,
03:43a limited incursion just to test the resolve of NATO,
03:47are growing every day,
03:48because Putin desperately needs to change the narrative, Kasparov warned.
03:53He argued that the war in Ukraine is a global war against the West,
03:57against liberal democracies,
03:59and that Putin represents the illiberal part of the world.
04:02Any attempt to end the war through compromise without addressing the root cause,
04:07he said,
04:08is doomed to failure.
04:10A new Russia?
04:12Kasparov also called for Western support in organizing Russian dissidents abroad
04:16to form an alternative community,
04:18envisioning a Russian Taiwan,
04:20a government in exile that could be a starting point for a post-Putin Russia.
04:25The future of Russia may not be in the current borders of Russia.
04:29The way I see the future,
04:30Russia must return all the occupied territories,
04:33Crimea included,
04:34he said.
04:35He stressed that the most effective way to undermine Putin's ability to wage war
04:40is through a brain drain.
04:42Take the people out.
04:44Give them a chance.
04:45Putin has enough soldiers to throw them on the front line for now,
04:48but he may not have enough engineers,
04:50computer scientists,
04:52and financiers.
04:53A defining moment.
04:55In Kasparov's view,
04:57Russia is now in an unwinnable war.
04:59The psychological shift taking place,
05:02the growing belief that Putin cannot win,
05:05is the most significant development in the conflict so far.
05:08As he told RBC Ukraine,
05:10something is happening.
05:12There are various signs,
05:14economic and military problems,
05:16but it seems to me that the main problem is psychological,
05:19and it is very important.
05:21If Ukraine wins,
05:23Russia must lose,
05:24Kasparov said.
05:25Victory for Ukraine is important.
05:28This is not just Putin's war.
05:30In 1991,
05:32Ukraine changed history.
05:34Since 2022,
05:35Ukraine has been the spiritual leader of the Western world,
05:38and Ukraine must eliminate this imperial virus.
05:42The Ukrainian flag raised over Sevastopol will be a signal that the empire is finally coming to an end.
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