Ukraine’s military intelligence claims Russia’s elites are plotting to overthrow Putin

Ukraine’s military intelligence on Sunday has claimed that Russia’s elites are scheming to overthrow President Putin as the country has been reeling under the economic and financial implication of the tough Western sanctions. Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of FSB security agency, is allegedly being considered as Putin’s successor, Ukrainian daily The Kyiv Independent reported, citing Ukraine's intelligence. UK Defence Intelligence had also claimed that Kremlin has “failed to succeed in its original objectives” of the war it waged inside Ukraine. Britain cited its own Defence Intelligence and claimed that Russians have been stunned by the "scale and ferocity" of the resistance demonstrated by the Ukrainians in defending their homeland's sovereignty. 

Ukraine’s intelligence on Sunday claimed that Putin has been facing internal resistance among his close aides for the Ukrainian invasion as sanctions shuttered businesses that opened in Moscow since 1990, depriving the citizens of jobs. Private banks have been barred from international transactions leading to dire consequences for Russia’s trade and commerce. This may have been resulting in the revival of Russian nationalism, and fears of turmoil and instability grow for the leader of the Russian Federation. Amidst the looming political and economic struggle, Russia’s elites scheme has been drafting plans to replace the head of the state as it reels under the economic suffocation and its effects may even be felt by generations. 

Putin blasts West's 'short-sighted policies' for economic crisis 

Russia's President Vladimir Putin had earlier lambasted the Western government, labelling them as "ruing elites" as he derided their 'short-sighted policies' that he claimed has caused the economic crisis as opposed to so-called "Russia’s hostile actions" that the West is claiming to deter. "I want ordinary Western people to hear me," President Vladimir Putin said in his message according to the official telegram channels of the Russian Federation. "You are being persistently told that your current difficulties are the result of Russia’s hostile actions and that you have to pay for the efforts to counter the alleged Russian threat from your own pockets. All of that is a lie," he said. 

"The truth is that the problems faced by millions of people in the West are the result of many years of actions by the ruling elite of your respective countries, their mistakes, and short-sighted policies and ambitions. This elite is not thinking about how to improve the lives of their citizens in Western countries," asserted Russia's leader Putin. "They [Western government], he said, "are obsessed with their own self-serving interests and super-profits. The entire planet is now paying for the West’s ambitions and the West’s attempts to maintain its elusive dominance by any means possible." Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has led to a sweeping wave of sanctions by the West that sparked an exodus of foreign businesses, companies and investors, depreciating the Russian currency Ruble to a historic low and rendering citizens' savings in the banks worthless. A huge wave of crowds was witnessed near ATMs in Russia as people rushed to withdraw foreign currency and rubles as the Moscow stock exchange collapsed and the ruble plummeted to a record low, less than 1 cent.