Vladimir Putin’s wealthiest and most powerful allies within Russia are reportedly beginning to turn on him after yet another loss in his war on Ukraine. According to a report by The Daily Beast, a group of officials in St. Petersburg and Moscow have launched efforts to have Putin ousted from office, accusing him of treason and demanding his resignation. They join a number of Russian oligarchs, currently feeling the squeeze on their bank accounts thanks to UN sanctions, in vocally opposing the once fearsome tyrant, signaling a shift in power that many believe will end with Putin’s ouster.
“Putin’s image is tarnished,” Putin’s former speechwriter, Abbas Gallyamov, told CNN. “The next thing which is going to happen in Russian politics within the next like several months, maybe up to half a year, is the elites will start looking for a successor.” In an interview with Puck News, Russian journalist and opposition supporter Yevgenia Albats echoed those sentiments, explaining how Putin has lost most of the oligarchy’s backing because of his assault on Ukraine.
“Even Putin’s oligarchs—their yachts have been seized, their villas in Italy, too,” Albats said. “When I ask them, what percentage [of the oligarchs] support the war? They tell me at most 30 percent support it. That means at least 70 percent are against it. Those are the people who understand their lives are simply over. That’s why I think this can’t last too much longer. This will be a long, hard winter.”
Whether Putin is aware that the writing is on the wall is a different question. Still, he has begun pulling away from his duties in recent weeks, canceling meetings with top military generals after Russian forces continue to sustain heavy losses in Ukraine. Even China, Russia’s biggest ally, is starting to “have concerns” about Putin’s strategy when it comes to his ill-advised war. What’s worse, Russian forces are low on soldiers — having lost tens of thousands of lives early in the conflict — and Putin’s idea to recruit convicts hasn’t helped boost his winning streak. Now, rumors are spreading that the Kremlin may look to launch a “broader mobilization,” or a draft of regular citizens.
“If Putin starts making this national draft, he really faces the danger of riots,” Gallyamov continued. “Russians are not willing to go to wage this war. They are not ready to go and sacrifice their lives, especially at the moment when the Ukrainians are advancing and Russians are retreating.”
It seems like things are going from worse to untenable in Russia, which is bad news for Putin and good news for everyone else, we guess?