THE leader of an anti-Putin militant group fighting inside Russia says the tyrant is set to fall like his pal Bashar al-Assad. Maximilian Andronnikov, better known as Caesar, says he will fight all the way to the Kremlin - or to the grave. Caesar, 50, is the leader of the Freedom of Russia Legion - a militant group of Russians seeking to overthrow Vladimir Putin.
![[Vladimir Putin could be quickly defeated like pal Bashar al-Assad, a militant claims]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NEW_1840487306jpg-JS865630911.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Currently, he and his men are fighting in the east of Ukraine against Russia's army. The 50-year-old has told The Sun he is prepared to "fight to the end" and see the dictator fall. But Caesar thinks Putin could be toppled quickly as the Russian army is heading towards the kind of critical failure that affected pal Assad in Syria.
![[Maximilian Andronnikov, better known as Caesar, leads a battalion of dissident Russians]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/image_09c1df.jpeg?strip=all&w=960)
Caesar said it was almost unbelievable Assad had fallen after 50 years of family rule and the extreme measures he used to stay in power. Caesar said: "He used chemical weapons against his own people 200 times and he's fallen in 10 days!. "The same situation can be in our country.".
![[The Freedom Of Russia Legion is able to strike inside Russia]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/RTRMADP_UKRAINE-CRISIS-FREEDOM-OF-RUSSIA-LEGION_1317585576_RC21D1ASX2KF_2023-06-05T132235Zjpg-JS8229.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Both Ukrainian and Russian forces are "exhausted" and lack motivated infantry, weapons, and ammunition, he said. Caesar believes less people can be conscripted by Putin or will volunteer to fight. which is why Russia has turned to allies like North Korea for troop-support.
![[The disorganised Syrian army and Assad's rule was swept aside by committed militants HST]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/anti-regime-armed-groups-advancing-955049103.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
He said: "Our mission now to force them to pay a lot of blood for every inch of our ground.". Caesar believes the Russian armed forces will soon be in a "crisis" with poor moral and bad wages. Eventually, he thinks the Russian army will buckle and Putin will be overthrown.
![[Vladimir Putin with Assad, who is now under his care in Moscow (file photo)]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-288961187.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
