Putin faces Hitler-style downfall & could wind up dead in a bunker as even loyalists turn on tyrant, exiled critic says

VLADIMIR Putin could face the same inglorious end as Adolf Hitler as the paranoid dictator cowers in a bunker, an exiled critic claims.

Prominent Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky told The Sun how the tyrant’s growing isolation has put him on a path to a grim and lonely death.

Russian President Vladimir Putin could face the same inglorious death as the Nazi leader Credit: AP

The bunker at the German Reichschancellery in Berlin where Adolf Hitler committed suicide Credit: Getty

The reclusive Russian leader is said to be holed up in secret hideouts for weeks on end over concerns he is the target of a simmering coup.

Now “physically scared for his life”, Putin lives in fear of Ukrainian drone strikes and or being “eaten alive” by fed-up opposition.

Khodorkovsky, an exiled Russian businessman who spent 10 years in a Siberian prison after clashes with Putin, has emerged as a leading figure in opposition circles operating outside of Russia.

In an interview from his London office, he told The Sun: “Putin has done a lot to create the impression he is like Hitler.

Adolf Hitler pictured in uniform in 1930 Credit: Getty

The concrete-walled air raid shelter was Hitler spent his last days Credit: AP:Associated Press

“The very way he waged the military operation against Ukraine was orchestrated in a way that calls for comparisons with Hitler’s Germany.”

The Russian despot assumed he could sweep in and seize Kyiv in a matter of days after ordering his troops over the border into Ukraine in 2022.

But five years on, Russia faces increasingly brutal defeats on the battlefield, with some 1.2million Russian soldiers killed, wounded or missing.

The war also has tanked Russia’s economy, forcing defence costs up to 15.5trillion roubles (£144bn) in 2025, while food prices spiked by 18.6 per cent in just two years.

Hellbent on defeating Ukraine despite devastating loses, Putin has spiralled into isolation.

And amid declining popularity, Khodorkovsky said the dictator now faces a “dangerous” situation.

In a huge warning sign for the Kremlin leader, only 71 per cent of Russians trust their president, according to state-affiliated polling institute FOM.

A Ukrainian drone strike hits a Moscow apartment Credit: East2West

Smoke rises from an oil refinery in Tuapse, Russia after a Ukrainian strike Credit: East2West

The drop of five per cent marked the steepest decline in popularity ratings for the dictator since 2019, analysts say.

Khodorkovsky said: “Putin’s popularity ratings are plummeting.

“He will be worried about this because his power rests on two pillars – the propaganda creating popularity for him and the intelligence services.

“If the propaganda machine fails, this will create a very dangerous situation. It will leave Putin’s power rested only on his security and intelligence services.

“And in that case they might eat him alive.”

It comes as a leaked report from a European intelligence agency claims Putin’s personal security has been dramatically stepped up.

Since the beginning of March 2026, the “Kremlin and Vladimir Putin himself have been concerned about potential leaks of sensitive information, as well as the risk of a plot or coup attempt targeting the Russian president”, the report said.

“He is particularly wary of the use of drones for a possible assassination attempt by members of the Russian political elite.”

Allegedly the last picture of Adolf Hitler (right) before he committed suicide Credit: Getty

The cowering dictator now spends weeks in an underground bunker in the Krasnodar region.

Politicians and activists have long drawn comparisons between Putin and Hitler.

In a March interview President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said: “We know how it ended for Hitler. We understand how it will end for Putin.”

“I am sure a tragic end awaits their nation,” he added.

The prediction was also made by former secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov.

Danilov previously said: “Putin is not much different from Hitler – he is just a modern Hitler.

“From 1941 to 1945, Germany was at war with almost the whole world. In May 1945, it was left in ruins. The same will happen with Russia. They are doomed to it.”

But Khodorkovsky drew a second comparison with Russia’s own former dictator, Joseph Stalin.

Putin is said to be hiding in his sprawling £1billion clifftop Gelendzhik palace Credit: East2West

The palace is fitted with high-tech secret bunkers Credit: East2West

He said: “Stalin ended his life in a puddle of his own vomit because no one dared approaching him when he collapsed.

“I think this is the route that Putin is following now, this is the direct route to that kind of end to his life.”

Stalin ruled the Soviet Union with an iron grip from 1924 until his death in 1953.

Millions of Russians – deemed political enemies – were executed and imprisoned by the totalitarian state.

Khodorkovsky said: “Putin’s scale of repression is about 100 times less than Stalin’s.

“However the propaganda creates the impression that has a very similar impact on Putins elite as it had on Stalin’s elite.”

Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, more than 20,000 people have been detained for speaking out against the conflict.

Khodorkovsky was Russia’s richest man, with a reported fortune of $15bn (£11bn).

He was arrested in 2003 after challenging Putin by advocating for democratic reforms. 

After spending a decade in prison Khodorkovsky went into exile in the UK.

In October 2025, the Russian government declared Khodorkovsky a “terrorist”.

The Kremlin accused his Anti-War Committee of Russia – founded by exiles and activists in 2022 – of plotting a violent coup.

Khodorkovsky said: “I told Putin face to face that the system he created was too much for the Russian economy to bear.

“The system did not work because if you did not take money or bribes you could not work for that system.

“If you do take money or bribes you have to fulfil any order, any instruction otherwise you find yourself in jail.”