Exiled Russian oligarch Leonid Nevzlin, former co-owner of oil giant Yukos is spilling the details on a major purge of high-ranking officials around Putin. Nevzlin claims that he obtained the information from his network of connections in Russia. Much of this is unconfirmed but there have been similar stories coming from other sources.
According to Nevzlin Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, is "out of the game" and could be left "disabled if he survives" and is currently "in intensive care, connected to the devices". “Rumor has it that the heart attack could not have occurred from natural causes.” That rumor may just be paranoia on the part of those around Putin based on Putin’s past behavior.
20 Generals in the Defense Ministry have been detained in a 10 US billion-dollar "corruption" case. The money was diverted from 2014 to the launch of the ‘special operation’ in Ukraine. Sounds like they are being set up as scapegoats for Putin’s disastrous failure. I’m fairly confident that the money that went to Putin himself is not included in that number, or maybe they included it and plan for the comrades to take the fall for Vlad.
Newsweek and other outlets are reporting that the man who made Putin king, Vladislav Surkov, is under house arrest.
Vladislav Surkov has been perceived as having been a crucial ally to Vladimir Putin and has helped shape policy within Russia for several years.
In a March 2021 Financial Times interview, Surkov is credited with inventing "Putinism," a system of power designed to keep the Russian president in office, and being behind the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
150 Federal Security Service (FSB) officers including the head of the FSB's foreign intelligence branch have been arrested.
There are unconfirmed reports that the Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Admiral Igor Osipov has been arrested.
Arkadiy Dvorkovich, International Chess Federation (FIDE) chief and former Russian deputy prime minister is expected to give evidence against his associates and friends in the FSB.
It’s difficult to determine what is accurate and what the actual state of affairs is. But while Western observers speculate, Russians in Putin’s kleptocracy are probably sharing even more rumors and unconfirmed and confirmed horror stories in a state of panic. Wondering who will be next. Everyone from Putin down to the lowliest conscript has had their hand in the cookie jar. So if Putin is prosecuting officials for corruption anyone can wind up with their head on the chopping block. Loyalty is not enough anymore. Putin wants results! That was never part of the deal before and is something his band of incompetent thugs is incapable of delivering.
I can’t imagine what the atmosphere was like in the Kremlin when the news of the Moskva sinking arrived. Putin is likely bouncing off the walls now, demanding that more heads roll. If this continues it may be Putin’s head that rolls next. Not to save Russia or its people but in a desperate act of self-preservation by the crooks around Putin.