Putin on the brink as Russian elites want him gone: ‘No longer the guy we need'
An expert has claimed that Russian elites are fed up with Vladimir Putin running the country as there is a sense that the leader is no longer the person they want in charge.
Vladimir Putin has lost the confidence of the elite in Moscow and there is now a sense in Russia that "he is no longer the guy we need", an expert has claimed.
The Russian President has taken an even stronger grip on both his inner circle and Russian society since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine back in 2022.
But his authority did come under threat in the summer of 2023 when Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a mutiny against the Russian government.
Priogzhin was angry at the Defence Ministry for under-equipping his troops, so seized the city of Rostov-on-Don and threatened to march to Moscow.
He eventually backed down after reaching a deal with Putin. But just two months later, Prigozhin mysteriously died in a plane crash.
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Vladimir Putin claimed that a grenade had been set off on the plane and that many on board the aircraft were under the influence of drugs.
A leading expert on Russia, Professor Mark Galeotii, says the way Putin dealt with Prigozhin has lost him the trust of many Russian elites.
He told Times Radio: "Before the Prigpzhin mutiny, there was that sense that, even if you didn't like the way things were going, at least you knew where you are with Putin. Putin was, if nothing else, a competent manager of the elite.
"Now it has been shown that his grip on the elite is much less strong... what you get from Russians is the sense that he is no longer the old Putin... that sense he is no longer the guy we need.
"There is also that sense that you cannot trust him. Trust really does matter in the elite system."
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Professor Galeotti says that Putin will not face resistance in the near future because he still has a strong grip on power.
But the Russian elites are constantly assessing how beneficial their partnership with the Kremlin is, and could turn against Putin, Professor Galeotti adds.
He explained: "Obviously no one is going to turn against Putin tomorrow because Putin has already killed the person who made the greatest challenge.
"It is a different kind of relationship [with the elites], it is a relationship of the hostage and the hostage taker more than the willing ally.
"There will be future crises. The point is the next time Putin has to make a deal with someone will they actually feel that can make that deal? Will they feel that Putin can be trusted?
"It might sound silly to talk about trust in the context of this kind of selfish, kleptocratic regime
"But when it comes down to it, Putin is just one guy with a handful of people who share his vision for Russia, and a much larger elite who are just in it for what they can get out of it. They will be making a constant cost-benefit analysis."
