real possibility
former speechwriter to Russian President Vladimir Putin has predicted a military coup is possible for the country next year, pointing to a deteriorating economy and the growing unpopularity of war in Ukraine.
Abbas Gallyamov, Putin’s former speechwriter who is now a political commentator, said the Russian president could face a growing wave of opposition at home as the war continues, in an interview with CNN.
“The Russian economy is deteriorating,” Gallyamov said. “The war is lost. There are more and more corpses coming back to Russia, so the Russians will have more difficulty and they will try to find an explanation for what is happening, looking at the political process and they will answer themselves: “Well , it’s because our country is ruled by an old tyrant, an old dictator.
And as people come face to face with this reality, Gallyamov argues, “a military coup will become possible.”
“So a year from now when the political situation changes and there’s a really hated unpopular president running the country and the war is really unpopular, and they have to shed blood for it, at that time , a coup becomes a real possibility,” he said.
The country is due to hold a presidential election in 2024, but Gallyamov said he thought it was possible Putin could call off the election in the face of war.
In recent days, Western allies have stepped up support for Ukraine, with the United States and Germany both agreeing to send tanks to the warring country.
