Given Putin's paranoia, a pound. Ukraine: Russian opposition to the invasion is giving Putin cause for alarm
"Guess we take this with a grain of salt."
Published: March 5, 2022 12.07am AEDT
IMAGE - Isolated: Vladimir Putin in a video conference with his Security Council. EPA-EFE/Andrey Gorshkov/Kremlin pool/Sputnik
Author Ben Noble Associate Professor of Russian Politics, UCL Disclosure statement...
Vladimir Putin’s military aggression against Ukraine is meeting more opposition from Ukrainians than he expected. The Russian president also saw widespread condemnation of his military’s aggression in Ukraine at the UN General Assembly. But the opposition Putin faces domestically in Russia is also likely giving him cause for alarm .. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-war-ukraine-putin-sanctions-oligarchs-protests-rcna18115 .
There are clear reasons, however, to be sceptical of claims that Putin will soon be deposed in a palace coup – or that the existing elite could be removed by mass protests.
[... to end ...]
A bleak outlook
The degree of opposition going forward depends on a number of factors, including the Russian military’s ability to subdue Ukrainian forces. The scale of economic hardship in Russia will also influence public opinion. But a lot will also depend on the Russian state’s capacity and willingness to repress dissent at home and continue to control the narrative. We’ll see economic problems and the deaths of Russian soldiers continue to be blamed by the Kremlin on the west.
Putin has staked his survival on this. And we’ve seen what he is capable of doing to critical voices: the incarceration of Navalny and the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 being just two examples. Given the steps that have already been taken to respond to domestic opposition, it is likely that – in the short term, at least – we will see a doubling down of repression, including to prevent any cascade of dissent that might shake the very foundations of the regime.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
