Boris Johnson says Putin is panicking over prospect of revolution in Russia

Putin is panicking about the prospect of being overthrown by a popular revolution in Russia, Boris Johnson has said.

The prime minister said that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was prompted by terror at the idea of Russians following the example of freedom and democracy in Ukraine

Speaking to the Conservative spring conference in Blackpool, Mr Johnson said: “Putin is terrified that the Russian people will take to the streets to demand democracy and remove him from power, following the example of the pro-democracy Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003 and Orange Revolution in Ukraine the following year.”