Ukraine’s intelligence chief: a hidden coup is possible in Russia, but not an open one

ROMAN KRAVETS, VALENTYNA ROMANENKO — TUESDAY 24 MAY, 2022, 11:03 AM

KYRYLO BUDANOV . PHOTO BY DMYTRO LARIN, UP

Ukrainian intelligence considers an open coup d'état in Russia unrealistic, but according to its information, President Vladimir Putin's entourage is looking for a replacement.

Source: Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, in an interview for Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "The inner circle, which is now, so to speak, the financial branch, has lost quite a lot because of the war.  And so they are looking for a way out of the situation. The easiest way out of the situation for them is to replace Putin with someone else. Let's just say, to blame all the problems not on Russia, but on one person – Putin. And to say that he was a sick dictator, to ask for all the sanctions and all the restrictions to be lifted and start afresh, it's not Russia's fault, but his…

A coup d'état? An open one is unrealistic.

But a hidden one, yes. A hidden coup is possible."

Details: According to Budanov, the majority of the Russian military is in favour of the war.  However, they are not too eager to continue the fighting, given the significant losses.

As for Russia's special services, a number of them initially advocated this "operation" in order to cover up the huge waste [of money] that has been spent for many years to build up so-called pro-Russian people in Ukraine.

In addition, they firmly believed that they would take Kyiv in three days and would complete the entire military operation in Ukraine on day 10. That was their dream. But it failed.

Russian business, on the other hand, clearly understands what it has lost and is therefore trying to find a way out and somehow end the war.  This is a rather pragmatic approach to the war.

"They are losing money, and it’s a lot of money. So they oppose it. However, they do not dare to openly talk about this with Putin. They have these sorts of conversations amongst themselves. Conversations like these are going on even between business and the security forces, between business and politicians. It’s all there", Budanov said.