FORMER Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov says he doesn’t believe President Putin will turn to nuclear warfare as he continues his fight in Ukraine.

The former Russian leader’s comments come as the war between Ukraine and Russia surpasses its one-year milestone and continues into its second year.

Speaking to Alastair Stewart on GB News he said (SUNDAY): “I continue to believe that Putin will not use nuclear weapons.

“We’ve heard from President Biden and other Western leaders that the consequences would be catastrophic for Russia and maybe personally for Putin.

“Putin is not an army general who is prepared to die on the battlefield, he is a KGB agent. Should he provoke the situation he would quickly escape and not be responsible. He’s still thinking about how to escape.

“What we can see and would also be very dangerous is Putin’s attempts to destroy civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and to devastate the economy further on. Right now, there’s devastation which has reached like 47%, as economists are already making their assessments.

“He could destroy it even further on, that’s what the danger is. That’s why I think the Western support by supplying equipment and training the Ukrainian army is crucial at this period of time.”

Criticism of Putin’s decisions and the action Russia has taken has also been met with harsh measures, and former leader Kasyanov says this was his reason for leave Russia: “That’s the reason why I left Russia because they adopted this legislation that for criticism you can be put in jail for ten to fifteen years.

“That’s why I decided not to take this risk, and to leave with my family.’

Speaking out also places Mr Kasyanov in danger, but he says it is right to make sure his voice is heard.

He added: “It’s not the time to hide. It’s time to show people what the reality is and I’m also speaking to the Russian media and foreign media so that our friends in the West can see what is going on, so they understand the Russian reality.

“We’re not a standard European country. We would like to be normal, but we have some special features as any nation has, but in Russia it has specific features because of KGB rule, and we should overcome this.”