German spy chief sees no “cracks” in Putin’s rule

The German Intelligence Agency (BND) chief Bruno Kahl has said that he does not see any weakening of Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule.

"We see no cracks in the Putin system," Deutsche Welle quotes Kahl as saying at the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS).

Kal argued that public criticism of war management is a routine dispute within Russian society and poses no threat to Putin's regime.

"Russia is still capable of waging a long-range war," he said, pointing to newly recruited soldiers, as well as to sufficient equipment and ammunition.

However, Kahl said that Russia had certain vulnerabilities, including the performance of the armed forces.

The spy chief argued that Putin's long-term strategy could prevail if the West does not support Ukraine in a very organized way.

Kahl said that the BND knew that Russia would launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine two weeks before the start of the war on February 24, 2022.

"Around 14 days before the start of the war we detected phenomena that could not be interpreted any other way," he said.

Responding to criticism regarding the fact that the US and British secret services expected an attack much earlier, Kahl said that the BND based its appraisal on the fact that the decision to attack was ultimately made by Putin.

Kahl argued that Putin took into account factors other than just "counting rockets or tanks."