Intelligence has recorded at least two groups within Vladimir Putin’s entourage holding opposing views on continuing the war.
Vadym Skibitsky, Deputy Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, said this at the annual Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference, responding to a question about whether there is any chance of a coup or the collapse of Putin’s rule.
“First, even during preparations for the electoral process (Ed.: in Russia), we understood perfectly well what was happening in Russia… and what we know about the declining level of support for the so-called pro-government parties in Russia. For example, ‘United Russia’. This is one of the signals for Putin’s regime,” Skibitsky said.
According to him, intelligence is also recording at least two groups of people around Putin who take different views on continuing the war or ending it through a negotiating process.
“We understand perfectly well, and during the negotiating process we saw such positions, that Putin’s regime really is afraid — afraid of the possibility of the Russian Federation breaking up due to destabilisation of the situation inside Russia. And Putin, of course, really is afraid of the oligarchs,” Skibitsky noted.
He said this is also evidenced by the capabilities of the security services and other elements inside Russia, as well as media reports about a possible re-privatisation of some enterprises and companies in Russia.
“I think this is a priority for our partners — to understand who really wants to stop the war and who wants to continue the war,” Skibitsky added, responding to a question about whether the West could persuade some oligarchs to speak out against Putin.
The intelligence official stressed that determining who within the Kremlin’s inner circle is genuinely interested in ending the war, and who is not, is one of the key issues for Ukraine’s Western partners.