The Russian elite may one day turn against its leader, Vladimir Putin. Such a view is quite realistic. This was stated by Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the new head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, in an interview with The Economist.

"There are still many rational people in the leadership. They will think and act when they understand that the price of staying with Putin is higher than leaving him," he said.

But Ukraine's top priority is to get real security guarantees, Lytvynenko said.

According to The Economist, not many people know Russia as well as Oleksandr Lytvynenko. The new NSDC secretary spent five years of his formative years in Moscow as a cryptologic cadet at the elite KGB academy. More recently, as head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service during the two years of war, he was involved in undermining and obtaining information from his former colleagues. At the end of March, he took over one of the most important positions in the country.