Photo: https://diapazon.kz/
Notably, the authors of the text address Vladimir Putin on first-name terms. They threaten him with criminal prosecution and prison. The article describes the peculiarities of life in Russian penal colonies in living color and mentions even more severe consequences.
It is hard to count the number of times that some Russian political analysts and experts in other sectors have “dismissed” Putin over the past year. For example, Valery Solovey, a popular political scientist and doctor of historical sciences, has been actively promoting the rumors about the Russian President’s alleged health issues since last summer. To his thinking, this circumstance might force Vladimir Putin to leave the presidency as early as 2021.
President is Strengthening his Positions
Other experts echoed Dr. Solovey's opinion. Some of them explained Putin's lack of power by his loss of control over the situation. Others named the takeover of power in Russia by certain influence groups as the reason for it. Allegedly, the latter groups have taken full control of the Russian President. Anyway, the situation in the corridors of Russian power remains the same. Moreover, over the past six months, Vladimir Putin himself has significantly strengthened his position in government.
In the first place, amendments to the Constitution including the notorious resetting of presidential terms to zero were passed. They allowed Putin to continue to run the country until 2036. Later on, some personnel reshuffles took place. They clearly showed that the President was going to further strengthen his positions. Moreover, at the beginning of this year, Vladimir Putin proposed eliminating the age limit for the officials whom he had appointed personally. In doing so, the "old guard" whom Putin trusts the most would be allowed to remain in key positions, providing additional stability to the president himself.
Attack on Russian President
However, it is too early to speak about strengthening Putin's position. In order to do so, he is likely to withstand the latest and most large-scale attack on his positions in government. Apparently, this “storm” is linked to a partial consolidation of many forces that are set against the Russian President personally. This is not only related to the situation with Alexei Navalny, the much-spoken-of leader of Russia’s off-parliament opposition. Chances are that it will lead to massive discontent with the actions of the authorities among ordinary Russians. Navalny, his investigation, and the upcoming rally in his support that have taken place in Russia's major cities are just part of a massive attack.
This attack had begun even earlier. This fact is being evidenced by the numerous leaks of confidential and, as it seemed to many, highly sensitive data for Vladimir Putin and his entourage. The fall and winter of 2020 were extremely eventful. The "Navalny issue" also fits into the general context of these events as the first and most massive wave. After this pressure might be selectively brought to bear on all possible pain points. They are yet to be found out. At this moment, the situation looks difficult to predict and might be assessed only in isolated episodes.
"To Resign and Peacefully Announce It by February 15"
Recently, one of these preliminary attacks has been made by the authors of the @generalsvr Telegram channel. It became extremely popular in 2020 thanks to the insider information about the Russian authorities and Vladimir Putin personally. However, the authors of the channel never conceal their intention to oppose the Russian President before. There were always a number of unpleasant epithets about him in their publications. Now, they addressed him directly in the harsh manner typical of them.
"We would like to address Vladimir Putin, the incumbent president of Russia. We have no doubt that this appeal will reach him. Especially since he is well aware of who we are and understands that our intentions are serious. Mr. Putin, there is little time left to make a decision so let us move on to the main point. You have a choice of three possible scenarios about your future," say the anonymous authors. With these words the address to Putin starts.
Then a description of these options follows. However, these statements are better not to be published for a variety of reasons. Notably, the authors of the publication address Vladimir Putin on first-name terms. They threaten him with criminal prosecution and prison. The article describes the peculiarities of life in Russian penal colonies in living color and mentions even more severe consequences. This fragment of the text looks unprintable. The address is rounded up with a rather unexpected sentence.
"We propose to release all political prisoners without exception, to resign peacefully and to announce this by February 15 of this year. This is the deadline for our proposal. Think about it. There is no time to drag feet," the writers say.