(JustPatriots.com)- According to an intelligence official in Ukraine, people inside the Kremlin are searching for a replacement for President Vladimir Putin, after dissatisfaction is growing within the ranks about how the country is faring in its war with Ukraine.
When Putin began what he was calling a “special military operation” back in late February of 2022, he was pushing it as if Russia was going to score a very quick victory. Many military experts had viewed Ukraine’s military as much weaker than that of Russia.
In the 13 months since the war began, though, Ukraine’s forces have proven to be much stronger and more resilient than people gave them credit for. The country has also received a lot of military aid from western countries, while Russia has been sanctioned on multiple fronts by these same countries – all of which has hampered its progress in the war.
While Russia was able to claim gains early on in the war, Ukraine won back a lot of territory this past fall from Russian-occupied forces. Much of the fighting is still concentrated in Ukraine’s east, where Russia attacked from originally.
For the most part, Russia has remained steadfast in its support of Putin and his war. Recently, though, signs have been emerging that some high-up individuals are growing weary of the lingering war as losses continue to mount.
Ukraine has reported that more than 160,000 Russian troops have been killed in combat since the war began last year, and the sanctions that were placed on Moscow have considerably weakened its economy. This has all led to Ukrainian officials believing that the Kremlin has started to search for a successor to Russia’s president.
Recently, a spokesperson for the military intelligence directorate in Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, said that this search is happening as “the circle around Putin is narrowing.” He also said that the Russian president is becoming “more and more toxic,” and that includes with people within Russia as well.
As Yusov said:
“Within the Kremlin, there is more and more dissatisfaction with what is happening. There is an increasingly gloomy understanding of the prospects, specifically the geopolitical catastrophe of the Putin regime. Thus, the search for Putin’s successor is already underway.”
The spokesperson added that the Russian leader isn’t playing a part in selecting that successor either anymore. Yosuv didn’t mention any candidates by name as to who could follow Putin in office.
It’s unclear at this point whether the intelligence gathered by Ukraine on this topic is real or not, or whether it’s just propaganda coming out of the country to beat down public opinion of Russia even more.
That being said, it’s also unclear whether replacing Putin as president would even solve any of Russia’s issues with its military – or whether a new prospective leader would want to continue pushing forward with the war at all.
Putin’s long-term viability as the leader of Russia was called into question recently as the International Criminal Council issued an arrest warrant for him last Friday for charges of war crimes.
