{"id":165049,"date":"2022-10-08T10:26:04","date_gmt":"2022-10-08T10:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=165049"},"modified":"2022-10-08T10:26:04","modified_gmt":"2022-10-08T10:26:04","slug":"chilling-signs-putins-inner-circle-are-moving-close-to-knifing-him-in-coup-as-they-openly-turn-on-him-to-slam-invasion-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/chilling-signs-putins-inner-circle-are-moving-close-to-knifing-him-in-coup-as-they-openly-turn-on-him-to-slam-invasion-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Chilling signs Putin\u2019s inner circle are moving close to knifing him in coup as they openly turn on him to slam invasion | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
AS Putin's seven-month war rapidly unravels, there are signs his inner circle are close to crushing him in a coup as they openly turn on the tyrant. <\/p>\n
The Russian president is reportedly terrified of the possibility that he could be ousted and killed as murmurs of growing discontent emerge among the Russian elite.<\/p>\n
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Putin's army has experienced a string of\u00a0humiliating defeats on the battlefield\u00a0as the fierce Ukrainian counterblitz crushes his struggling troops.<\/p>\n
Russian\u00a0soldiers have been\u00a0throwing down their weapons and fleeing\u00a0in the face of\u00a0the counteroffensive, abandoning swathes of territory they had earlier seized.<\/p>\n
Ukraine's men have made significant gains in the city of Kherson –\u00a0the only provincial capital captured since February 24 that is still under Russian control.<\/p>\n
And a today there was a massive blow to Vlad, with an explosion collapsing part of the bridge Putin built between Russia and annexed Crimea. <\/p>\n
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A US official even revealed\u00a0Ukraine could retake Crimea\u00a0– annexed by Russia in 2014 – if it continues to retake territory at this astonishing pace.<\/p>\n
Russia's desperate war-mad leader is still clinging to power, ranting furiously\u00a0about the West\u00a0in rambling speeches and wildly swinging his nuclear sabre.<\/p>\n
Yet the extraordinary losses have not gone unnoticed by furious Kremlin officials – and there are chilling signs Putin's closest allies are turning on him.<\/p>\n
The number of people Putin counts as close aides and trusted advisers is small and made up mostly of allies from his days as a KGB officer.<\/p>\n
<\/picture>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/picture>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/picture>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/picture>\n <\/span><\/p>\n But the unquestioning loyalty he's enjoyed for the last 22 years among his top ranks might be slipping as the Ukraine war starts to go disastrously wrong for Moscow.<\/p>\n According to US intelligence sources, a disgruntled member of Putin's inner circle has voiced disagreement over the handling of his shambolic Ukraine war.<\/p>\n In the clearest sign yet of growing turmoil within Russia's top ranks, the Putin ally reportedly raised woes with the mismanagement of the war effort and mistakes made by military chiefs. <\/p>\n The information was deemed so serious it was reportedly included in Biden\u2019s daily intelligence briefing, The Washington Post reports.<\/p>\n A Western intelligence official said: "Since the start of the occupation we have witnessed growing alarm from a number of Putin\u2019s inner circle.<\/p>\n "Our assessments suggest they are particularly exercised by recent Russian losses, misguided direction and extensive military shortcomings."<\/p>\n A second senior Western official said the simmering tensions are "consistent with the way in which the campaign has gone for the Russians, and the atmospherics in the Kremlin". <\/p>\n "There are a lot of people who are convinced this isn\u2019t going well or the right course of action," they added. <\/p>\n In an unmistakable admission of growing discontent, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there have been "disagreements" in the top ranks over the state of the shambolic invasion. <\/p>\n Peskov told The Washington Post: "There is disagreement over such moments. Some think we should act differently. But this is all part of the usual working process."<\/p>\n He added: "There are working arguments: about the economy, about the conduct of the military operation. <\/p>\n "There are arguments about the education system. This is part of the normal working process, and it is not a sign of any split."<\/p>\n But Peskov said the US intelligence briefing about an individual in Putin\u2019s inner circle directly challenging him was "absolutely not true".<\/p>\n Yet cracks started to appear last week when it came down to military strategy. <\/p>\n Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Chechnya region, called for more "drastic measures" to be taken after Putin pulled his soldiers\u00a0out of the city of Lyman.<\/p>\n In a chilling message, he wrote: "In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons."<\/p>\n Two days later, Peskov insisted Russia's military approach should not be driven by emotions, appearing to disagree with Kadyrov's brazen comments. <\/p>\n "Even in difficult moments, emotions should be kept out of any kind of assessment," he said. "So we prefer to stick to balanced, objective assessments."<\/p>\n As tensions boil over, Putin's furious puppets have urged Russia's defence minister to kill himself.<\/p>\n General Sergei Shoigu came under fire after experiencing a series of\u00a0defeats on the battlefield\u00a0and displaying a sluggish strategy.<\/p>\n Putin has appointed Kirill Stremousov as head of the so-called Kherson People's Republic – and he used his new platform to slam General Shoigu's failures.<\/p>\n Stremousov fumed: "Indeed, many people say that if they were the minister of defence, who brought things to this state of affairs, they would shoot themselves, if they were real officers.<\/p>\n "But you know what, the word \u2018officer\u2019 is not familiar for some people."<\/p>\n The character assassination of the military chief suggests Putin's goons are\u00a0crumbling under the pressure\u00a0of\u00a0Ukraine's successes – and could turn on other top ranking officials, including Putin. <\/p>\n In the wake of several embarrassing retreats, Stremousov turned the attention to military top brass, describing them as "useless and corrupt generals and looters".<\/p>\n Kadyrov, head of Russia\u2019s Chechen Republic, has also lashed out at a top general in recent days and said he should be demoted to private.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a longtime Putin ally, agreed with Kadyrov and described Russian military leaders as "pieces of garbage".<\/p>\n State media figures – usually the loyal mouthpiece of Russia – have also condemned the handling of the war. <\/p>\n The series of\u00a0embarrassing military losses in recent weeks\u00a0has presented a challenge for hosts of Russian news shows struggling to find ways to paint Ukraine\u2019s gains in a way that's favourable to the Kremlin.<\/p>\n And frustration over the battlefield setbacks is now spilling out on state TV broadcasts and in the pages of government-backed newspapers.<\/p>\n Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most prominent Russian talk show hosts, said: "Please explain to me what the general staff's genius idea is now?"<\/p>\n "Do you think time is on our side? They have hugely increased their amount of weapons," he said of Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n "But what have you done in that time?"<\/p>\n Putin\u2019s media allies dropped the niceties and directly criticised his military after Ukraine recaptured Lyman – a city in the east used as a logistics and transport hub by Russian troops – last weekend. <\/p>\n We have to stop lying. Our people aren't stupid<\/p>\n On Solovyov's show last Sunday, he fumed: \u201cWhat happened on Saturday, Lyman \u2013 it is a serious challenge for us.<\/p>\n "We need to pull it together, make unpopular, but necessary decisions and act."<\/p>\n And during an online popular talk show, Andrey Kartapolov, the head of Russia's State Duma Defense Committee, said: "We have to stop lying."<\/p>\n "Our people aren't stupid," the former general said, according to Bloomberg. <\/p>\n Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said: "The Russian defeat in Kharkiv and Lyman, combined with the Kremlin\u2019s failure to conduct partial mobilization effectively and fairly are fundamentally changing the Russian information space."<\/p>\n Vlad has tried to frame some of his failures as victories in the war in Ukraine,\u00a0claiming ownership of four Ukrainian regions\u00a0even as\u00a0Kyiv's forces continue their storming advance.<\/p>\n But claiming these areas as officially part of Russia opens the door to potentially more dangerous escalations – and feeds fears a desperate, cornered\u00a0Putin could try to turn the war nuclear.<\/p>\n Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow of the Russia from Chatham House, believes Putin's future is in the balance and tied to Ukraine.<\/p>\n And he said that the Russian leader seems to be becoming increasingly detached from reality.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n "They can either cling to the sinking ship as Putin goes down – because that\u2019s the system that\u2019s given them their wealth and security," he said.<\/p>\n "Or, they can leap for the lifeboat and salvage something of Russia\u2019s future because they may have realised by now that Russia doesn\u2019t have a future without the West."<\/p>\nMan shot dead by cops wielded 'samurai-like sword' in car-smashing rampage<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
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US intelligence briefing<\/h2>\n
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