Putin is Gathering Loyal People and Preparing a Strike on Ukraine - Media

Vladimir Putin unexpectedly dismissed his trusted aide, head of the presidential administration Sergey Ivanov, reducing him to the position of special representative of the president for environmental and transportation issues.

No matter what Putin is planning regarding Ukraine, the dismissal of his closest aide Ivanov demonstrates, perhaps, that he is doing this alone without the former friends from the KGB.

Ivanov is not the only one who suddenly lost his seat. In July, several provincial governors and heads of central state administrations disappeared, especially in regions bordering Ukraine.

All of them were replaced by people from the president's environment.

In other words, Vladimir Putin is on the path to total power, much like Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, foreign media reports.

Some Russian commentators, especially abroad, already see parallels with Stalin, who replaced the Bolsheviks with technocrats in 1938.

Putin has escalated the international situation over the past few weeks. His armed forces are ready to attack Ukraine – headlines about it abound in all newspapers. Moreover, the President of Russia has stated about Ukrainian saboteurs who allegedly invaded Crimea.

On the day of Ivanov's dismissal, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Ukraine and Georgia should remember that 'the consequences of political decisions are now irreversible.'

Be that as it may, if Putin wants to prove the 'greatness' of Russia once again, he has very little time left before the US elections, which will take place in early November.

However, Putin's 'comrade' Donald Trump is losing, according to polls. If Hillary Clinton wins, Putin will create a corridor in Crimea, take the separatists under his 'protection', and then stop – such a scenario is what experts predict. Will the West accept such a move? It was accepted when it happened with Georgia.