The Kremlin is paranoid! Vladimir Putin fears another coup

With the coming to power of Vladimir Putin, Russia has become a totalitarian state. Now he carefully guards his regime from encroachments, writes The Telegraph, recently the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation accused Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who currently lives in exile in London, and 22 members of the Russian Anti-War Committee of preparing a coup d'état. According to the FSB committee, created to counter the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, advocates for “a violent seizure of power and the overthrow of the constitutional order in the Russian Federation“, writes Focus.

Experts who know the Kremlin's kitchen say that this is a clear sign of a new sense of vulnerability in Putin.

“This shows us that the Kremlin is seized by paranoia. Putin is looking for enemies to try to strengthen his regime“, emphasizes John Herbst, senior director of the Eurasian Center of the Atlantic Council and former US ambassador to Ukraine.

Returning to the threats to the Putin regime, the publication recalls how in the summer of 2023 the leader of the private military company “Wagner“ Yevgeny Prigozhin set off for Moscow. But nothing came of it, and a few months later the mercenary leader died in a plane crash.

But Khodorkovsky is not leading a march on Moscow. After spending 10 years in a Siberian prison, he was released in 2013 and fled to Europe, where in 2022 he founded the Anti-War Committee.

Khorkhorkovsky told the British newspaper that the FSB charges against him showed that the Kremlin was "concerned about the issue of the transfer of power", because if Putin died tomorrow, he would have no clear successor.

"What do we have in Russia? A prime minister who was not elected by anyone, but appointed by Putin. Courts appointed by Putin. "A parliament whose seats were filled as a result of rigged elections and whose legitimacy no one believes in," he said.

He also believes that the international legitimacy of the Russian opposition could become a significant factor in the event of a sudden change of power, and that is why Putin needs to discredit and intimidate the Anti-War Committee.

His opinion is also supported by Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University: "They want to support Putin's position that the West is trying to divide Russia".

The publication recalled that the Kremlin is known for using this tactic when there is unrest in Russia.

Khodorkovsky believes that Russia has become dependent on China:

"Putin's war machine relies heavily on cooperation with China. Xi Jinping could collapse the Russian economy and stop the war tomorrow if he wanted to“.

“There is a sense that the wind has changed direction. Now is a critical moment for Russia“, commented on the new US sanctions against Russia Tom Keating, director of the Centre for Finance and Security at the Royal United Institute for Defence Studies. He suggests that Russia's economic weakness could push Trump to go further.