(FiveNation.com)- A famous Russian chess grandmaster and well-known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid out the conditions that he believes are necessary for a coup that would remove the president from office
Speaking to CNN last week, Garry Kasparov revealed that a coup against Putin is not entirely impossible – even if it is exceptionally difficult – and that anti-Kremlin sentiments are likely to increase in Russia over time.
First, Kasparov said, the Russian public and the Russian elite will realize that the war has already been lost.
“The bad news coming from Ukraine will inspire more people to rise because economic hardship will increase,” he said.
He said that a combination of the military defeat in Ukraine and a social-economic revolt are the “right conditions for a palace coup.”
“Because many of Putin’s inner circle will be looking for a scapegoat and it’s always a dictator who should be blamed for all the failures,” he said.
For this reason, Kasparov said, failure in Ukraine is simply not an option for Vladimir Putin – suggesting that he could become increasingly unhinged and extreme in how he approaches the war.
If it’s a choice between a palace coup and using nuclear or chemical weapons in Ukraine, what do you think Putin will choose?
“For a dictator for life, losing a war, it’s devastating,” Kasparov told CNN. “It’s a matter of political survival and in many cases, of physical survival. That’s why he has to pretend he is winning the war.”
This…isn’t good.
As Russia moves onto a new phase of the war, focusing on taking control of Donbas, Putin’s desperation could cause an untold number of tragedies.
