'Discontent is growing': Vladimir Putin's critic predicts his downfall is likely

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, voices have been growing, even within Russia, against continuing what Vladimir Putin labelled a 'special military operation'. Could the resentment be so intense that the country will soon be governed by a different president?

Reasons for allegedly dwindling support

In the interview, Vladimir Ashurkov, a close friend of Putin's critic Alexei Navalny, talked about a 'growing discontent' within the Russian population. He explained that this was due to two factors: fewer and fewer people understood why the war, which he himself described as 'unjustified and unprovoked,' was being waged at all.

In addition, the economic situation brought by the war is responsible for the lack of understanding among the country's population:

People don't understand what this war is really for, it was really uncalled for, unprovoked so you don't see any visible signs but the discontent is growing and i see that this war has made Putin regime more fragile rather than more strong

Weakened regime

The people under the kremlin regime clearly expressed their dissatisfaction with their leader. Although earlier when the war broke out, there were thousands of people who took the streets to protest. However, around 15,000 people were arrested and put into prisons. Which discouraged the citizens from protesting against the war. Ashurkov shared with Times Radio:

We see many signs of discontent. There have been dozens of cases when recruitment centres for the Russian army have been burned

This article is translated from Gentside DE.

Read more:

⋙ Russian MP threatens missile attack on London’s Tower Bridge

⋙ Vladimir Putin allegedly considering handing back invaded territories, according to this Telegram channel

⋙ Vladimir Putin critic Alexey Navalny gives 'sign of life' from new prison camp