Vladimir Putin's regime looks 'under serious threat for the first time ever' since he came to power, it has been claimed.
Professor Mark Galeotti, an honorary professor at the University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies, believes the war in Ukraine has 'turned into a disaster' and 'everyone is looking for other people to blame'.
Added with Putin's desire to implement a for regime change for Ukrainians and his belief that Russian invaders would be welcomed by flag-waving crowds bearing bouquets of flowers was wrong.
Mark Galeotti believes anyone in Russia know can be categorised as a warmonger or traitor in Putin's mind, he said: "Anyone can be denounced as a warmonger or a traitor, or even both.
"Putin is furious because many young soldiers in the National Guard, a paramilitary force whose peacetime role was to quell protests in Russian cities, are protesting themselves.
"In Ukraine, they feel they are being treated as cannon fodder.
Mark Galeotti, author of We Need To Talk About Putin, believes Russian citizens are believing what's being said to them on state television, with many still believing the military operation being carried out is successful.
He said: "Most ordinary people in Russia believe the state TV version, that a successful military operation is underway to oust a neo-Nazi cabal in Kyiv and prevent ethnic cleansing or even nuclear genocide against Russians in Ukraine.
"When that lie is exposed, the people might start to turn against the man at the top. How his cronies respond to that will determine Putin’s fate."
And with sanctions hitting Putin's henchmen, he believes they are getting worried they won't be able to make lots of money and purchase expensive properties in London or sending their children to the best private Western schools.
He said: "Like the rest of Putin’s henchmen, they are motivated by greed and their aim is personal power.
"They want to make lots of money and spend it on properties in London and the Med, or on sending their children to Western schools.
"Currently, sanctions make that very difficult. As a result, they are getting worried – nobody in the FSB wants Russia to become the European equivalent of North Korea."
Putin has been picking off key figures in the secret police, the FSB, and politicians in a bid to retain his hold on power as the war continues but rumours continue to swell with everyone blaming each other.
Mr Galeotti said: "Never since the collapse of the Soviet Union has there been such fervid rumour and counter-rumour in the Kremlin. A circular firing squad is forming, with everyone pointing their guns at each other.
"And when conscripts start returning from the Ukraine front, bringing with them horror stories of the war, the political temperature will only rise"
"I do not believe there’s an FSB coup brewing, at least not yet. Russians know their own history and they understand that regime change only happens when the secret police, the military and the politicians all act together – as they did in 1991 when president Mikhail Gorbachev was overthrown."
