Will Russia Stage a Coup and Take Down Putin?

By Maya Carlin, Warrior Contributor, Weapons

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, speculation regarding a potential coup d’état to oust President Vladimir Putin has ramped up.

After so many long months of grueling warfare, many Russian citizens and conscripted troops have tired of Putin’s unpopular war.

More than 20,000 Russian soldiers have been verified as killed, thousands of military weapons and equipment have been destroyed or captured, and internationally imposed sanctions have crippled the country’s economy.

For these reasons, some experts suggest that a coordinated plan to sabotage Putin is not as far-fetched as previously believed.

Earlier this year, former Kremlin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov told CNN that a coup in Russia was possible.

In the interview, Gallyamov noted that, “The Russian economy is deteriorating, the war is lost. There are more and more dead bodies returning to Russia, so Russians will be coming across more difficulties and they’ll be trying to find explanation why this is happening, looking around to the political process and they’ll be answering themselves: ‘Well, this is because our country is governed by an old tyrant, an old dictator.’”

For these reasons, the former speechwriter predicted that, “In one year, when the political situation changes and there’s a really hated, unpopular president at the head of the country and the war is really unpopular, and they need to shed blood for this, at this moment, a coup becomes a real possibility.” For many, the end of the authoritarian leader’s reign in Russia would be welcomed. However, the probability of such a coup, and of a related end to Russia’s invasion, is not all that high.