Panic in Russia as ‘paranoid’ Vladimir Putin fearing a dramatic coup | World | News
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused exiled opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky and 22 members of the Russian Anti-War Committee of planning a coup. The Russian Anti-War Committee, founded in 2022, describes itself as a platform that supports “anti-war Russians” and promotes “solidarity, action and mutual assistance for people who oppose the war initiated by the Kremlin.”
According to the FSB, the committee is vying for “the violent seizure of power in the Russian Federation and the overthrow of the constitutional order.” Khodorkovsky denied the allegations, but reportedly TelegramKremlinologists say this clearly points to a new sense of vulnerability in Russia. “This tells us that the Kremlin is paranoid,” said John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. “Putin is looking for enemies who will try to strengthen his regime.”
According to The Telegraph, Putin has many reasons to worry. Businesses have been negatively affected by high interest rates, government borrowing costs have soared, and economy minister Maxim Reshetnikov warned in June that the country was “on the verge of recession”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has intensified drone attacks on Russian oil refineries, crippling the country’s fuel supplies.
On Monday, Donald Trump and Putin’s meeting in Hungary was canceled after Russia refused to accept a ceasefire that has frozen the front lines in Ukraine. In response to stalled peace efforts, the US President announced new sanctions on two major Russian oil companies. Key buyers India and China have since reduced purchases, threatening a vital source of funding for Putin’s war machine.
“For the first time in three-and-a-half years, Russia is actually suffering,” Timothy Ash of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia program told The Telegraph. “I think there’s a panic.”
Earlier this month, St. A group of young street musicians from St. Petersburg were sentenced to nearly two weeks in prison after performing songs by exiled anti-war musicians on the streets of their hometown.
Performing under the name Stoptime, singer Diana Loginova, drummer Alexander Orlov and guitarist Vladislav Leontyev went viral for their renditions of anti-Putin and anti-war songs that were effectively banned under Russia’s wartime totalitarianism.
The trio were sentenced to 12 to 13 days in prison for allegedly organizing an unauthorized public event, while Loginova also faces two more charges of “damaging the reputation” of the Russian military.
