Ukraine
There apparently remains little or no hope of a coup against Vladimir Putin.[1] The folks most likely[2] to pull one off, the security services,[3] are likely too incompetent to do so.[4] There’s nothing new here.[5]
What is new is that some oligarchs, especially those who amassed their fortunes prior to Putin’s rise to power, are echoing[6] the gripes of the security services.[7] It’s unlikely to make a difference,[8] but we can say that oligarchs are squealing.
Nataliya Vasilyeva, “Russia seeks to capture all of southern Ukraine in major expansion of war goals,” Telegraph, April 22, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/04/22/russia-seeks-capture-southern-ukraine-drastic-expansion-war/
Reuters, “India wants to be friends with West but needs Russian help to defend borders, finance minister tells Bloomberg,” April 23, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-wants-be-friends-with-west-needs-russian-help-defend-borders-says-finmin-2022-04-23/
Liz Sly, “The Belarusian railway workers who helped thwart Russia’s attack on Kyiv,” Washington Post, April 23, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/23/ukraine-belarus-railway-saboteurs-russia/
Viktor Yushchenko, “I’ve dealt with Putin before: I know what it will take to defeat this brutal despot,” Guardian, April 24, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/24/vladimir-putin-despot-russia-viktor-yuschenko
Chiara Giordano, “Russia effectively at war with Nato, Lavrov says as he calls western weapons ‘legitimate targets,’” Independent, April 25, 2022, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-weapons-ukraine-war-nato-b2065422.html
Roland Oliphant, “World War Three now a ‘real’ danger, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warns,” Telegraph, April 25, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/04/25/real-danger-third-world-war-mysterious-attacks-russia-says-sergei/
CTV, “Top Russian diplomat warns Ukraine against provoking world war,” April 26, 2022, https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/top-russian-diplomat-warns-ukraine-against-provoking-world-war-1.5876149
Maciej Onoszko, Maciej Martewicz, and Slav Okov, “Russia to Cut Gas to Poland and Bulgaria, Making Energy a Weapon,” Bloomberg, April 26, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-26/russia-halted-gas-supplies-to-poland-onet-pl-reports-l2gapmmd
British Broadcasting Corporation, “Ukraine war: Poland says it will manage without Russian gas,” April 27, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61237519
Julia Ioffe, “Biden’s New Ukrainian Calculus,” Puck News, April 27, 2022, https://puck.news/bidens-new-ukrainian-calculus/
Julian O’Shaughnessy, “War in Ukraine: West’s Bucha massacre claims killed hopes of peace, says Putin,” Times, April 27, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/war-in-ukraine-wests-bucha-massacre-claims-killed-hopes-of-peace-says-putin-6fk7g8t0d
Johan Ahlander, “Swedish PM rejects referendum on possible NATO membership,” Reuters, April 28, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swedish-pm-rejects-referendum-possible-nato-membership-2022-04-28/
Catherine Belton and Greg Miller, “Cracks emerge in Russian elite as tycoons start to bemoan invasion,” Washington Post, April 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/29/russia-oligarchs-ukraine-invasion-dissent/
- [1]Mark Galeotti, “How does Putin extract himself from this nightmare of his own making?” Times, March 5, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-does-putin-extract-himself-from-this-nightmare-of-his-own-making-v2ktvw08g; Julia Ioffe, “Europe’s 9/11,” Puck News, March 3, 2022, https://puck.news/europes-9-11/; Paul Nuki, “Why Vladimir Putin may stay in power longer than we think,” Telegraph, March 8, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/08/vladimir-putin-may-stay-power-longer-think/↩
- [2]Tom Ball, “Ukraine war: Putin ‘at risk of coup’ by Russian security services,” Times, March 23, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-war-putin-at-risk-of-coup-by-russian-security-services-vm6qgxtnp; Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom, “Will Russians Toss Their Leader?” Tyee, March 25, 2022, https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/03/25/Will-Russians-Toss-Their-Leader/↩
- [3]Steven L. Hall, “Putin doesn’t fear a coup by oligarchs. But he should fear his fellow spies,” Washington Post, March 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/10/putin-coup-russia-siloviki/↩
- [4]David Remnick, “The Weakness of the Despot,” New Yorker, March 11, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/stephen-kotkin-putin-russia-ukraine-stalin↩
- [5]David Benfell, “Where does Vladimir Putin stop?” Not Housebroken, April 26, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/04/where-does-vladimir-putin-stop/↩
- [6]Catherine Belton and Greg Miller, “Cracks emerge in Russian elite as tycoons start to bemoan invasion,” Washington Post, April 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/29/russia-oligarchs-ukraine-invasion-dissent/↩
- [7]Steven L. Hall, “Putin doesn’t fear a coup by oligarchs. But he should fear his fellow spies,” Washington Post, March 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/10/putin-coup-russia-siloviki/↩
- [8]Steven L. Hall, “Putin doesn’t fear a coup by oligarchs. But he should fear his fellow spies,” Washington Post, March 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/10/putin-coup-russia-siloviki/↩