Panic in Russia as 'paranoid' Vladimir Putin fearing a dramatic coup

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused the exiled opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky and 22 members of the Russian Anti-War Committee of plotting a coup. The Russian Anti-War Committee, founded in 2022, describes itself as a platform supporting "anti-war Russians" and promoting "solidarity, action, and mutual aid for people who oppose the war unleashed by the Kremlin."

According to the FSB, the committee is vying for "the violent seizure of power and overthrow of the constitutional order in the Russian Federation". Khodorkovsky has denied the allegations, but, as reported by The Telegraph, Kremlinologists say it clearly signals a new sense of vulnerability inside Russia. "It tells us that the Kremlin is being paranoid," said John Herbst, the senior director of the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center and former US ambassador to Ukraine. "Putin is looking for enemies to try to bolster his regime."

There are many reasons why Putin might be worried, The Telegraph reports. Businesses have been negatively impacted by high interest rates, government borrowing costs have soared, and the economy minister Maxim Reshetnikov warned in June that the country was on the "brink of recession".

Ukraine has meanwhile intensified drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, crippling the country's fuel supplies.

On Monday, when Russia refused to agree to a ceasefire that froze the frontlines in Ukraine, the meeting between Donald Trump and Putin in Hungary got called off. Responding to the stalled peace efforts, the US President announced new sanctions on two major Russian oil firms. Key buyers India and China have since scaled back purchases, threatening a vital source of funding for Putin's war machine.

"For the first time in three and a half years, Russia's really getting hurt," Timothy Ash, an associate fellow at Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia programme, tells The Telegraph. "I think there's some panic."

Earlier this month, a group of young street musicians from St. Petersburg were jailed for nearly two weeks after performing songs by exiled anti-war musicians on the streets of their hometown.

Singer Diana Loginova, drummer Alexander Orlov, and guitarist Vladislav Leontyev, who perform under the name Stoptime, went viral for their renditions of anti-Putin and anti-war songs, which are effectively prohibited under Russia's wartime totalitarianism.

The trio each received jail sentences of 12 to 13 days for allegedly organising an unauthorised public event, while Loginova also faces two further accusations of "discrediting" the Russian military.