Putins days are numbered21 Mar 2022 21:16
There have been anti-war protests in as many as 40 Russian cities, and as more mothers realise their sons are not coming home, the clamour will grow.
It will also grow from the Russian middle classes. For many years now those more well-off Russian parents were able to bribe their children’s way out of conscription. Well, some reports suggest Putin is about to change the conscription rules and make it more likely that more children of comfortable families are going to be sent off to a war zone.
If Putin loses the middle classes, the type of people who perhaps only tolerated him because of the “I’m alright Jack” attitude of seeing their personal circumstances steadily improve, then he’s in big trouble.
Not to mention that he’s just lost the oligarchs as well. Roman Abramovic has had his assets frozen, along with many other Kremlin cronies. It will be interesting to see how some of the world’s richest and shadowy men react when the man who lined their pockets is also the man whose actions took their wealth away. I wonder how long that loyalty will linger.
Many Russian diplomats are worried about the situation as well – their life's work establishing close international ties have been shattered. I wonder how many of them are actually in favour of this conflict.
There is also serious talk about Putin’s health. Both physically and mentally. The reality is that people like us will probably never know the truth but there are, of course, persistent rumours of Parkinsons, cancer... we will never know.
It is his mental state as well that may well be the final straw for many of those in the Kremlin. If they genuinely feel as though he’s lost the plot, then how long do they let that go on for ?
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