There are reports that Vladimir Putin fears a coup as Russia’s position weakens under economic pressure

(Picture: AP)

As Russia’s economy groans under the weight of sanctions,speculation is growing about discontent rising against Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Yet,few believe that any serious challenge will come from its opposition – both from those inside and those abroad.

Vladimir Osechkin,Russian dissident and founder of Gulagu.net,a human rights group that investigates torture in the Russian prison system,warned that opposition figures ‘keep falling for Kremlin traps and intrigues’.

He told Metro: ‘Russian opposition figures are fragmented and divided; there is constant infighting,bickering,and conflict.

‘The struggle is not against Putin but against one another. This sad and disheartening spectacle has already turned many people away and deprived the opposition of support and influence,even among emigrants.

‘Many opposition figures are vain and focused on self-promotion rather than unity.

‘As long as this continues,I see no prospects for solidarity,partly because many oppositionists are politically immature.

They fail to grasp the nature of the enemy and the methods of the Putin–KGB-FSB-SVR system.

‘They keep falling for Kremlin traps and intrigues,while the Kremlin invests hundreds of millions of dollars every year in active measuresassassinations of opponents and the orchestration of new quarrels and intrigues.’

This comes after the Federal Security Service (FSB) warned that Mikhail Khodorkovsky – once Russia’s wealthiest man – who has been living in exile in London,and 22 members of Russia’s Anti-War Committee are plotting a coup.

All were accused of conspiring a violent seizure of power and forming a ‘terrorist community.’

The oil tycoon was imprisoned in 2003 on charges of fraud and tax evasion – what his lawyers have described as politically-motivated charges.

He was released a decade later in December 2013 before fleeing Russia and becoming a leading critic of the president.

Khodorkovsky flatly denied the allegations of plotting to topple Putin.

Speaking to The Telegraph,he described them as ‘lies’,which show the Kremlin has ‘anxiety over the issue of power transition’.

If the Russian leader dies tomorrow,he will have no obvious successor.

Vladimir Kara-Murza holds up his now expired Russian identity document during a press conference on August 2,2024 in Bonn (Picture: AFP)

Khodorkovsky said: ‘The international legitimacy of the Russian opposition could become a significant factor in the event of a sudden power transition.’

Putin is therefore keen to discredit and intimidate the Anti-War Committee,an organization founded by some of Russia’s best-known dissidents.

Despite his criticism towards the Russian opposition,Osechkin admitted that the Kremlin is ‘advancing on all fronts to criminalise the work of anti-war activists’.

He warned that this is ‘another wave of repression aimed at terror and intimidation’ and added: ‘Not everyone in the West understands the nature of this,and in many countries members of the Anti-War Committee have already faced or will soon face problems.’

A number of Russian dissidents who protested against the war in Ukraine and fled their homeland have had their visas denied since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Osechkin added: ‘Some will be denied visas,others will have their bank accounts closed,and some won’t be granted protection due to the mountain of lies and accusations.

‘The security services are doing everything possible to intimidate people inside the perimeter – and it’s working.’

Earlier this year,Metro spoke with Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza – also one of the founders of the targeted Anti-War Committee – who warned that such European sanctions on anti-war activists only help Putin’s regime.

Considered to be one of the surviving faces of Russia’s beleaguered opposition,he was freed last August in the biggest exchange of prisoners since the Cold War.