The cracks in the Putin regime are finding the first official reactions, albeit with the aim of minimizing friction. It all starts with an article in the Washington Post, a reputable US newspaper — Watergate’s, to be clear — that said Russian President Vladimir Putin had a direct confrontation with a member of his inner circle who criticized him for mismanaging the war in Ukraine.
The Wp cites US intelligence sources who included this information in US President Joe Biden’s daily briefing. The US-007 report does not reveal the identities of Putin’s supporters, but it is believed that Putin’s close circle includes mostly former colleagues in the KGB and the St. Petersburg administration, of which the Russian president was deputy mayor in the 1990s. “Our assessments suggest that Putin’s closest associates and advisers are particularly concerned about Russia’s recent losses, poor decisions and massive military bottlenecks,” a US National Security official told The Washington Post. “There are a lot of people who think things aren’t going well or that they’re not going in the right direction,” another source said.
Moscow, for its part, spoke to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who acknowledged that there had been “differences” and discussions surrounding Putin as the Russian president faced crucial decisions such as “partial mobilization” “more than seven months” since the Russian invasion passed to Ukraine. “In those moments there are disagreements. Some think we should act differently – Peskov told the Washington Post – but that’s part of the normal working process.”
“There are discussions about the job, about the economy, about the management of the military operation. There are discussions about the education system. It’s part of the normal work process and not a sign of division,” Putin’s spokesman continued, explaining the friction in the tsar’s magic circle.