VLADIMIR Putin rules Russia as a mafia don - but like any failing gangster he might not last long, a top ex-UK general said. General Sir Richard Shirreff - the former deputy commander of Nato forces in Europe - said Putin's cronies could quickly turn on him over Ukraine. 3 Vladimir Putin is The Godfather in Russia - but how long will he last? But even if Putin is removed over his failing war, the criminal mob in the Kremlin could replace him with someone even worse. Putin's more than 20-year career at the top of Russian politics now seems...