Vladimir Putin is reported to be facing a possible attempted coup as frustrated generals and the Federal Security Service (FSB) look to oust him. Rumours are running rife in the Kremlin that several former generals and KGB officials want to end the war in Ukraine and get rid of the Russian president.
It comes as many in Russia are beginning to see the invasion as a mistake and an economic disaster for the country, it has been claimed in the Mirror. The FSB is said to be so annoyed with the lack of military progress that it has contacted generals and former army officials, according to reports in local media in the country.
A group made up of former FSB officers called the "Siloviki" are thought to be working together with ex-officers from other Russian intelligence units to try to push out 69-year-old Putin. Analysts outside Russia are also pointing to signs that the Russian leader may soon face a coup.
Russian security expert Andrei Soldatov told The Centre for European Policy Analysis : "Does it matter? It matters a lot. This is the very first time the Siloviki are putting distance between themselves and the president, which opens up all sorts of possibilities." He added: "The Russian President has been bracing for a coup for some weeks as has faced fierce criticism over his 'special operation' in Ukraine and he has purged around 150 of his spies over the constant failures."
Russian analyst Alexey Muraviev is also convinced that Putin is facing increasing opposition. He told Sky News Australia: "I think that there have been tensions between Russia and the intelligence community and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. I think that sort of false narrative was presented to them by the Supreme Commander in Chief, and when it fired back when the Russians began taking heavy casualties, Putin began quietly blaming the security services.
"I don’t think went really well also because he’s coming from within the security apparatus. About the initial planning and the initial phase of the invasion where the Russian military naturally assume that they’re going there as liberators rather than the invaders."
Last month, it was reported that Putin ordered a mass purge of 150 security officials. The officers are said to be from the FSB security service – the successor to the KGB – with some removed, while others were reportedly arrested. All those ousted were said to be employees of the Fifth Service, a division set up in 1998 when Putin was director of the FSB to perform operations in former Soviet Union countries.
The purge was reported by Christo Grozev, executive director of Bellingcat, an investigative news organisation, and follows claims that Putin may disappear for a period of time to undergo an operation linked to cancer. Recent appearances by the Kremlin boss in which he appeared to look bloated and in ill health have sparked rumours around the world.
Russian authorities have never commented on Putin's health and little is known about his personal life with the media under the yoke of the Kremlin.
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