Internal dispute in Putin's regime? Some officials apparently opposed the Ukraine war

Putin is continuing his war against Ukraine against the wishes of some of his top officials and influential oligarchs, says a former intelligence chief.

MOSCOW – By invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has further tightened his control over dissidents and allies at home.

Laws prohibiting criticism of the Russian government or the Ukraine war are in place.

Also mercenary troops like the Wagner group are under this protection.

Putin's regime controls and manages its power - through censorship, propaganda and spreading fear.

But time and again it transpires that the foundation of his position is crumbling.

Mikk Marran, who was the head of Estonia's foreign intelligence service until October 2022, tells

that Putin's subordinates are in some cases outright opposed to the war against Ukraine.

Although he "still has power pretty well under control," says Marran, who is now the managing director of the Estonian Center for State Forestry.

Putin's crumbling regime: 'Russia is moving towards total dictatorship'

"Russia is moving towards a total dictatorship," notes the Estonian foreign intelligence service in a recent report.

"The prospects of the current regime collapsing and the country democratizing are slim despite the problems caused by the war and Western sanctions." On the contrary, an even more radical faction is coming to the fore in the Russian elite."

And this radicalization could sooner or later lead to division.

"I think tensions are rising, we can definitely see some signs of that," Marran told

.

While he couldn't name names, there were and continue to be officials in the Kremlin who are "absolutely opposed to the war."

A senior Russian official who has publicly distanced himself from the war is Boris Bondarev.

He resigned in May 2022, saying he was ashamed of his country.

Even Moscow's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, "repeatedly asked for permission to retire," reports experienced Russia observer Mark Galeotti.

Influential figures in Russian business are also dissatisfied.

On Wednesday (March 15) it became known that 15 business leaders have resigned from the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, which was scheduled to meet with Putin later this week.

Among them, according to

, are billionaires Araz Agalarov, Leonid Fedun and Alisher Usmanov.

Russia's economy suffers - but back words are "a kind of death sentence"

"Of course they don't say anything in public," Marran says of dissidents who remain silent.

"It would be a kind of death sentence for her and for her career," he told

.

But in private conversations and in smaller groups, they were very vocal.

According to Marran, most of the power still lies in the Kremlin and not in the hands of the oligarchs.

Influential personalities like Yevgeny Prigozhin may have used the Ukraine war to their political advantage, but most Russian billionaires are concerned about their wealth.

"The Russian economy is doing very, very badly," Marran continued.

“The financial status of the country is pretty bad.

Of course, Russia will never go bankrupt because it has enormous resources (...), but the financial system is still not in good shape.

And the Russian people will probably realize that at some point in the future.”

Putin's foreign minister holds up the flag: "The economy is stable"

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile

that the Estonian foreign intelligence service's claims "can hardly be described as professional."

Most of them are "just plain wrong".

Such biased attitudes would contribute to "total Russophobia."

In addition, "discussions about the special military operation" could very well be held in the presidential office and business circles, Peskov continued.

Claiming that the economy is doing badly is also wrong, Peskov added: "The economy is stable and the unprecedented sanctions not only have not weakened it, they have not caused any meaningful decline."

This should certainly clear all doubts out of the way.

(n / A)