An insider has claimed that Vladimir Putin fears he could be "hanged" if he fails to win the war in Ukraine, and that he is instead planning to escalate the conflict rather than negotiate a settlement without a clear victory. The claims, reported by The Economist, come amid growing Kremlin warnings aimed at Britain and the West, and highlight the pressure Putin reportedly faces from both ordinary Russians and elites increasingly frustrated by the war's toll after four and a half years.

Putin is said to believe he needs to capture the entire Donbas region to avoid a backlash, having told an associate "they will hang me" if he stops short. The report follows a visit to Russia by CIA director John Ratcliffe, with conflicting accounts suggesting he either warned Putin against attacking NATO states or urged him to negotiate given Russia's stalled battlefield campaign; the Kremlin subsequently signalled it was not seeking peace with the West. Putin has also attended a Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan alongside Xi Jinping, while Russia's defence ministry has said it is preparing large-scale strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure in response to Ukrainian attacks.