Vladimir Putin Taunts Rivals With Nuclear War Simulation Ahead of Upcoming Presidential Election

Vladimir Putin recently taunted his political rivals with a nuclear war simulation ahead of next year’s Russian presidential election, RadarOnline.com can report.

In a startling development to come ahead of Russia’s election in March 2024, new footage showed the 71-year-old tyrant observing a nuclear war simulation that featured nuclear blasts and mushroom clouds.

According to Daily Star, the move was likely made to startle Putin’s political rivals as more opposition leaders consider running against the despot come next year.

The simulation reportedly featured a “nuclear button” that gave the Russian leader the “power” to launch a simulated nuclear war – although sources familiar with the exercise claimed that Putin opted not to press the button.

Although the Kremlin previously claimed that Putin would face “no competition” for his re-election bid, Nechaev is reportedly set to officially announce his opposition bid sometime in the coming weeks.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Putin launched his 2024 re-election campaign run in June.

The Russian leader was spotted meeting with supporters in Moscow. He then traveled to Dagestan, one of Russia’s poorest regions, to meet with additional supporters.

But other Kremlin critics debated whether Putin is a good choice to remain Russia’s leader for another six years – not only because of Russia’s disastrous military operation in Ukraine but also because of Putin’s allegedly worsening cancer diagnosis.

“He has no more than two to three years to stay alive,” one Kremlin source said amid Putin’s 2024 re-election run. “He has several serious illnesses, one of which is cancer.”

Additional insiders suggested that Putin might be “removed” from power before the next Russian presidential election unfolds in March 2024.

Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free.

According to one source, the Russian Federal Security Service is working to “pinpoint” a potential successor.

"The FSB controls and rules Russia,” Dr. Yuri Felshtinsky said in August. “The entire process of the Russian Presidential election and the election computer which calculates the vote is by law controlled by the FSB.”

Dr. Felshtinsky also explained that the FSB’s involvement in the next Russian presidential election would “lead to a situation where they have the ability to add the votes of the people who didn't come to vote in order to choose their favorite candidate.”

"My point is that it will be the FSB who choose the next president of Russia,” he said. "If we see suddenly that the Prime Minister is changed to somebody else, let's say Nikolai Patrushev, this will be an indication that they're making Patrushev the President.”