US military expert Glenn Ignazio says support for Putin is slowly slipping away as he continues his operation in Ukraine.

The "biggest issue" for Putin is the death of Alexei Navalny, he says, with suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of his most prominent critic cause for "upheaval".

But this won't be enough to see Putin turfed out of office, according to Ignazio, who says Putin will likely emerge victorious in the election.

“There is a lot of upheaval, but the problem is, Putin controls all the levers of government”, he said.

“So for him to be voted out of office, highly doubtful.

“I guarantee he does not have the strength and backing of the people as much as he did in the past.”