The 68-year-old had been tipped to step down after reportedly showing symptoms of Parkinson’s before the Kremlin furiously denied the claims – branding them “absolute nonsense”. The reports came as Mr Putin personally drafted legislation which would see former Russian presidents granted lifetime immunity from prosecution under criminal law. But speculation over whether the move signalled an early retirement for Mr Putin ignored another law, also passed this year, allowing the president to rule for 12 more years after his fourth term ends in 2024.
Amid the uncertainty, author Joseph Pisenti revealed on his YouTube channel ‘RealLifeLore’ how things have changed over the years for Russia.
He said: “Back in the 1900s, the Russian Empire was one of the most powerful nations on Earth.
“Eight percent of the human population called Russia home and 17 percent of the Earth’s land was directly governed by her.
“But fast-forward through a century of disaster with a world war, a civil war, another world war, the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union and you arrive at the situation today.
Some have questioned Vladimir Putin’s health (Image: GETTY)
Putin has recently passed new laws (Image: GETTY)
“With the perceived threat of a third invasion by NATO allies, the USSR set up buffer states like a security system that any invading army would have to break through.
“However, in the early Nineties this entire security belt began unravelling – East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – all once loyal members defected over to the other side.”
Mr Pisenti continued, explaining why he believed Russia is now surrounded.
He added: “Even worse, the former Soviet Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia all joined the other side following the collapse, placing the city of St Petersburg within 134km from NATO territory.
“Greece and Turkey are both members of NATO too and can block Russian ships from accessing the Mediterranean Sea.
READ MORE: End of the world: 1,800 nukes ‘on alert’ as Russia threatens ‘moment feared for 70 years’
Russian President’s profile (Image: DX)
“The US now has a military presence in Afghanistan down to the south, right on the border of the old USSR – Japan and South Korea are also strong allies and can block access to the Pacific if required.
“If you were in charge of the Russian government today – knowing how the history of the 20th century unfolded for your country – you’d probably be more than just a little nervous.”
But, remarkably, Mr Pisenti discovered a book published in Russia that “outlined exactly what he should do”.
He added: “The book is called The Foundations of Geopolitics and was written by Alexsandr Dugin – it’s a step-by-step playbook to get out of this dicey situation and is quite popular among certain political circles.
“First off, the book recommends working as hard as possible to set up an alliance with Germany, offering the disconnected Russian territory of Kaliningrad in exchange.
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Moscow has been handed a plan to take over the world (Image: GETTY)
“You should offer Germany the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of domination of Central and Eastern European Protestant and Catholic states – like Czechoslovakia, Austria and Poland.
“Once Germany is in your pocket, you need to begin work on convincing France to join in by whatever means you have – the UK, though, will probably never join.
“Taking over Finland may not have worked out well the last time, but this time it will likely be different – they are not a member of NATO, but they are an EU member, which does complicate things.”
Mr Pisenti explained during the video how much of Europe and Asia could soon become under Russian control.
He continued: “Poland can get carved up between you and Germany, or given some kind of a special status – Romania, Macedonia, Serbia and Greece should all unite and team up with you at this time.
NATO states are said to currently surround Russia (Image: GETTY)
“Iran needs to be a key ally of your new government – they don’t like the US – you can both invade Azerbaijan and divide it up between the two of you.
“Geopolitical shocks need to be employed in Turkey to keep them distracted from everything else you’re doing around them, while all the countries in Central Asia that used to be Soviet republics should be reincorporated.
“If played successfully, most of Western and Central Asia should be yours now, just like Europe.”
But such plans would not be easy to implement, with China and the US almost certainly sending warnings over Russia’s expansion early on.
During the Cold War, Washington and Moscow came within touching distance of World War 3 and now more than 1,800 nuclear weapons around the globe are said to be “on alert”.
The book was written by Alexsandr Dugin (Image: WIKI)
Mutually Assured Destruction arguably prevents such a situation from spilling out of control, though.
This military doctrine guarantees that both countries would obliterate each other in the event of one or more using nuclear weapons.
The promise of being wiped out in the event of using such weapons cancels out the benefits of launching them in the first place.
But countries continue to arm themselves in order to stay on par with the rest of the world.