AS the bloody Ukraine invasion takes a disastrous toll on Russia's forces, Vladimir Putin is becoming increasingly paranoid about his own inner circle.

The humiliated dictator, 69, appears to be looking for someone to blame as Russia faces sagging troop morale and fierce Ukrainian resistance as the war limps into its third week.

Things are clearly not going as planned for the Kremlin, with Russia's advance into Kyiv stalled by a string of logistical failures and resupply problems.

It seems the Russian dictator is becoming increasingly paranoid behind the scenes, fearing someone in his own inner sanctum could poison him.

Boris Karpichkov, a former KGB spy now living in exile in the UK, said Putin is now "completely losing his mind" over the state of the Ukraine war.

The ex-double agent, 62, told The Sun Online: "Putin lost the war before he even started it – and it happened a long time before this maniac idea flew into his sick head.

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"He turned out to be a psychopath really heavily obsessed with paranoid ideas and conspiracy theories against himself and about non existent threats Russia allegedly faces from the rest of the world."

Putin was cagey and mistrustful long before he stepped into the role of president, Mr Karpichkov said.

The ex-spy said people who knew him before noted his "pathologically abnormal craving for personal enrichment by any means".

And the Russian leader showed an "absence of any moral principles and barriers, multiplied by careerism, hypocrisy, dishonesty and deceit".

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"I am really disgusted, appalled and sickened that Putin is a former KGB officer, like me," he said.

"Now, looking at Putin, anyone can judge and consider everyone who belonged to this organisation to be a monster like Putin.

"But being an ex member of the KGB and, then working for the Russian security service, FSB, I can try to expound what thoughts are inside his skull, what drove him to show his true face of the monster."

Mr Karpichkov said: "Putin doesn't care and has already started literally marching over dead bodies under his feet – regardless of whether corpses belong to Ukrainians, or to his own Russian fellow citizens.

"Based on the fact that Putin is now using barbaric cluster bombs and missiles and using these horrible weapons against civilians, this is a sign Putin is completely losing his patience and his mind."

He added: "The fact his troops were unable so far to accomplish the mission Putin put to them, really infuriates Putin.

"What's going on with Putin and what's inside his head cannot be explained and 'justified' – regardless of whether or not there was allegedly some 'legitimate' cause to attack Ukraine first."

'LOYALTY PURGES'

The former spy said Putin has carried out "loyalty purges" in all layers of his government over the last two decades .

He said the mistrustful leader has "methodically, thoughtfully and calculatingly" fired or jailed anyone who "got under his personal maniacal suspicions or raised doubts".

Just this week, General Roman Gavrilov, the deputy chief of Russia's Rosgvardia unit which led the first push into Ukrainian territory, was allegedly arrested by Russian security services.

Although the reason for Gavrilov’s arrest was not immediately clear, a serious charge of "leaks of military information that led to loss of life” has been rumoured.

Sergey Beseda, head of the FSB’s foreign intelligence branch, has also been arrested along with Anatoly Bolyukh, his deputy, The Times reports.

The true reason for the arrests is likely to be Putin’s fury over what he calls "unreliable, incomplete and partially false information about the political situation in Ukraine".

Already an unusually paranoid leader, Putin is now said to have ordered a team of people to taste his food before he eats it over fears he could be wiped out by a deadly concoction.

A source told the Daily Beast contributing editor Craig Copetas that the Russian leader has also replaced his entire personal staff of 1,000 people.

Copetas said: "Laundresses, secretaries, cooks – to a whole new group of people. The assessment from the intelligence community is that he's scared."

And sources inside Russia's Ministry of Defense told Foreign Affairs that the failure of the war can be partly put down to Putin's spiralling paranoia.

The Russian leader was so obsessed with keeping his invasion plans secret that he kept top military officials chiefs in the dark about the timing and scope of the invasion.

Putin's extreme secrecy means Russia's security service and military are now playing catch-up and struggling to make any meaningful advances in Ukraine.

'MISTAKE'

Kremlin officials have allegedly described the invasion on February 24 as a "mistake" as Putin's forces have faced a massacre on the battlefield.

The war has seen Russian pilots blasted out of the sky, tanks ambushed and videos of sobbing soldiers after surrendering to the Ukrainians.

Ukraine claims to have killed around 13,500 invading Russian troops – and Russia is said to be having trouble replacing its bogged down forces.

Last week, defence experts claimed the dictator could only have ten days to win the war before his forces buckle.

But deluded Putin has made several strongly-worded appearances on Russian state TV since the war started, denouncing Russians who opposed his war with Ukraine as "scum" and "traitors".

He insisted the invasion was "developing successfully" and has repeatedly threatened the West with "untold consequences" if he is challenged.

Former Nato chief Rose Gottemoeller said Putin’s forces have been weakened by Ukraine’s stiff resistance.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think the Russians threw at Kyiv some of their most elite forces to begin with.

“They were hoping for a lightning strike to basically assassinate President Zelensky, take out the government in Kyiv and have a quick victory.

“But it didn’t work out that way and they ended up stalling on the highway outside of Kyiv. Now we’ve seen those forces disperse, and disperse into the woods.

“But I’m wondering frankly if they have the ability to regroup at this point because their logistics are in such bad shape.

“They don’t really have the fuel supplies they need for a push on to Kyiv. So I’m rather sceptical that they will gain much success in an assault on Kyiv, at least with those forces.”

It comes after a former Russian deputy prime minister spoke out against the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine.

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Arkady Dvorkovich, deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2018, became one of Russia's most senior figures to question the war when he said his thoughts were with Ukrainian civilians under bombardment.

Thousands of people have been detained for protesting against Russia's invasion of Ukraine – which Moscow describe as a "special military operation" to demilitarise and "de-nazify" its former Soviet neighbour.

All you need to know about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Everything you need to know about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…

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• What can I do to help Ukraine?
• Who is Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky?
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• What is the Minsk agreement?
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• When will the Russia-Ukraine war end?

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