VLADIMIR Putin has reportedly called in his ex-bodyguard to lead the desperate defence of Kursk as Russian casualties pile up on their own turf.
Ukraine last week stormed into Russia and is said to have taken out so many enemy troops that they can’t even be taken to morgues and identified.
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In response, a shocked Vlad has given the reins to his trusted old bodyguard, who once claimed he saved him from a rampaging brown bear.
Alexei Dyumin, 51, is now coordinating the defence ministry, security agencies and regional authorities in the rush to save Russian regions from Kyiv’s forces.
It’s estimated that the Ukrainians have also captured up to 1200 of their rival soldiers in the staggering surge.
Dyumin’s standing is such that he’s even been talked of as a potential successor to Putin.
Read more on Russia-Ukraine
Russian war cheerleaders praised the move.
State TV reporter Aleksandr Sladkov said: “Dyumin is a military man, respected in the army and in the special services.
“Dyumin is Putin’s man, he will not allow the President to be deceived.”
Telegram channels have been blowing up over the destruction inflicted by Ukraine.
One said: “There are a lot of dead, so the bodies are not being taken to Rostov, there has been no identification since August 7.”
A separate channel called Volya said Russia had lost many more troops than the invaders because they lack sophisticated technology.
The channel reported: “According to a Ukrainian officer, about 1,200 Russian soldiers and officers have been captured since the beginning of the operation.
“A Russian staff officer shared a different figure. According to him, up to 750 Russian servicemen have been captured by the Ukrainians in a week, including many conscripts and border guards.
“Such a large number of prisoners is explained by the fact that many Russian units do not have up-to-date maps, operate without drone support and have no intelligence.
“As a result, units either lose direction and run into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, or fall into a well-prepared ambush.
“Ukrainian reconnaissance groups have also run into Russian troops or fallen into ambushes several times, losing equipment and people.
“In the conditions of chaos in the combat zone, this is inevitable.”
Vlad has claimed Ukraine will ultimately lose masses of troops in a botched invasion.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insists he’s bringing the war “home” to Russia.
The shock blitz is widely seen as a Ukrainian attempt to divert Russian forces away from their soil.
The Russians have taken 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory in the two-and-a-half years since Putin launched his illegal invasion, according to Reuters.
Why has Ukraine invaded Russia?
By Ellie Doughty
UKRAINE’S daring invasion into Russia has been launched for two key reasons – with one aimed at Putin and one at the West.
A high-ranking Ukrainian official told AFP that the idea behind the attack is to stretch Putin’s armies as much as possible, spreading them thinly over different areas.
The security brass told AFP on condition of anonymity that “the aim is to stretch the positions of the enemy, to inflict maximum losses and to destabilise the situation in Russia as they are unable to protect their own border”.
As well as acting as a huge morale-boosting win for Ukraine – the invasion also has a second key purpose in Kyiv’s masterplan.
It is a message to allies in the West who have closely monitored Putin’s war.
Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady told The Washington Post: “This is definitely one consideration that it is really a signal to the West and to Ukrainian allies and partners that Ukraine is still capable of launching offensive operations.
“That Ukraine is capable of conducting fairly complex operations into enemy territory.”
Vlad on the other hand claims Ukraine are simply trying to gain leverage for peace talk negotiations.
But now he has to worry about his own turf, as more than 100,000 residents have been forced to flee Kursk and neighbouring Belgorod.
Dyumin, an action man, led a 2014 secret service and military operation to spring toppled Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych from Crimea and bring him to Russia.
He was also deputy head of the main army unit as well as deputy defence minister.
Dyumin told how as a bodyguard he scared off a bear that could’ve attacked Putin in a secret presidential mountain retreat.
He said: “Naturally, I was armed, the president was upstairs.
“So the bear and I looked into each other’s eyes, and he stepped back a little.
“I opened the door and emptied the entire cartridge of my pistol under his feet.
“I felt pity for the bear.”
He’s now entrusted with inciting the same fear in Ukraine’s advancing forces in a desperate bid to get them to retreat, too.
But Ukraine Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi claimed Ukraine now controlled a massive 400,000 square mile chunk of Russian territory as it continued to “conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region”.
He said: “The troops are fulfilling their tasks. Fighting continues along the entire front line. The situation is under our control.”
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