(NewsGlobal.com)- Other countries haven’t stepped up to directly support Ukraine with military aid to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly war, but there are reports that some people within Russia are plotting to try to stop him from within.
The New York Post published a report recently that cited Ukrainian intelligence officials who said a group of elites within Russia are working on a plan that would overthrow Putin. One of their main goals, in addition to stopping the violence, would be to “restore economic ties” with Western countries, according to the report.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s chief directorate of intelligence for its Ministry of Defense posted on Facebook:
“Poisoning, sudden illness, accident — Russia’s elite is considering removing Putin.”
The Ministry of Defense in Ukraine claims that a group of “influential people” in Russia have been coming together and gathering. This group, as the report says, wants to “remove Putin from power as soon as possible and restore economic ties with the West, which were destroyed by the war in Ukraine.”
Since Putin invaded Ukraine nearly a month ago, many Western countries have imposed very strict economic sanctions not only on Putin and the Russian government, but also on many of the country’s oligarchs and major companies.
This has all caused a steep decline in the local economy and has threatened the long-term stability — and wealth — of many of these elites.
According to the intelligence reports, the group is already eyeing a replacement for Putin as president. They apparently believe that Alexander Bortnikov would be a good successor to Putin.
Bortnikov is currently a member of the president’s inner circle and serves as the country’s director of the Federal Security Service. Because of that, it’s unclear whether Bortnikov would be up for that role, or whether he’d stick by his current boss.
Still, the intelligence reports claims the pair had a falling out recently, with Putin claiming that Bortnikov is to blame for “fatal miscalculations” in the war with Ukraine, which has proven to be very costly and slow-moving thus far. Putin apparently was expecting a much swifter and more successful invasion.
As the directorate explained:
“Bortnikov and his department were responsible for analyzing the mood of the population of Ukraine and the capacity of the Ukrainian army.”
According to the reports, much of the intelligence came from sources within Russia, who are “considering various options for removing Putin from Power,” and that could include potentially assassinating him.
The Facebook post further stated that the change in leadership could also “be an attempt to establish cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities,” with the war coming close to its one-month mark.
Russian oligarchs who are located around the world have had many of their assets seized by Western countries. The hope with those moves was to convince the oligarchs to put pressure on Putin.
Thus far, that hasn’t worked. But, if this report is correct, then maybe they just needed some time to come up with a plot.
