'Beginning of the end for Putin': John Sweeney on the killing of Ukraine civilians
2 March 2022, 12:45 | Updated: 2 March 2022, 14:33
John Sweeney: 'I think this is the beginning of the end for Vladimir Putin.'
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has bloodied streets with the bodies of civilians, is "the beginning of the end for Vladimir Putin", journalist John Sweeney has told LBC.
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Putin's progress in taking over Kyiv has been hindered by sanctions from the West and defiant Ukrainians fighting back. But latest tragic figures coming out of Ukraine show as many as 2,000 civilians have been killed.
Speaking from Kyiv, John told James O'Brien of the significance of what was happening closer to home for Putin too, with protests taking place in Moscow.
He said: "You can die if you do protest and the very fact that there is 10,000 people out there is immensely heroic of them."
It follows claims that young children have been arrested for participating in an anti-war demo in Russia, with opposition politician Ilya Yashin saying, "this is Putin's Russia, folks. You live here".
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Mr Sweeney added: "Back in the day, Putin was more subtle and clever and would kill people five or 10 years later than when the first offence was launched.
"Now he's killing women and children on the streets of Kyiv."
He explained: "I think this is the beginning of the end for Vladimir Putin.
"The question is how many innocent people - Ukrainians, obviously - but how many innocent people will be killed with him?
"And I saw three today."
Mr Sweeney said the experience was "awful" and, despite having experienced it before, "it's never good".
