The newspaper reported that the US intelligence obtained the name of this Russian official, who disagrees with Putin, while US President Joe Biden was briefed on this information related to the restlessness in the Kremlin papers.
The name of the official, who is said to be close to Putin, was not revealed, and he began to express his disagreement, while a spokesman for the US National Security Council refused to comment on the circulating reports.
According to the “Washington Post”, the talk about the “boldness” of this Kremlin official comes as Russia suffers losses on the ground in Ukraine, after losing thousands of kilometers of the lands it controlled, while military operations entered their eighth month.
Putin was forced to announce a partial military mobilization in the country, in an effort to redress the losses his forces have suffered recently, while Western capitals say that this step reflects what they describe as Moscow’s “floundering” in the Ukrainian quagmire.
The source added that the senior official in the Kremlin expressed his dissatisfaction with what he considered mistakes committed in the ongoing military operations in Ukraine, amid Western talk about Putin’s exposure to his greatest isolation in power in 22 years in power.
The newspaper pointed out that Putin’s inner circle includes a limited number of trusted aides and advisers, and they are mostly former colleagues when he was an officer in the KGB intelligence service, or during his tenure as deputy mayor of Saint Petersburg in the nineties of the last century. after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The decision of partial military mobilization in Russia sparked what was said to be “popular anger.” Hundreds of thousands of people of military age rushed to leave the country, in order to avoid being taken to the battlefield.
US intelligence sources said that the war in Ukraine is reaching this point, while uncertainty persists about what Russia can consider a victory, while questions are raised about the “unconditional loyalty” that Putin has long enjoyed.
But the American source made it clear that these voices, which express opposition to the way the war was fought, are not an indication that the Russian president is about to be pushed aside.
The Kremlin responds
In a statement to the Washington Post, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that there are several visions about the war, saying that there are those who suggest a different way to conduct military operations, but he considered this to be normal, because it is the heart of the usual business.
But Peskov denied that there was any rift in the Kremlin regarding the ongoing military operations in Ukraine, despite the existence of internal discussions regarding a number of files, denying what was reported about a senior Kremlin official who disagreed with Putin, and described the news as “completely incorrect.”
Russia has long accused Western media outlets of misleading and publishing inaccurate reports on the course of the war in Ukraine, describing them as “propaganda.”
wide grumble?
Meanwhile, the “Washington Post” quoted a Western intelligence source, as saying that this grumbling among Putin’s inner circle was expressed in particular after extensive Russian losses were recorded on the ground in Ukraine.
And the newspaper went on, quoting a second Western intelligence source, that internal disputes were raised because the military operations did not go as planned, while many in the Kremlin believe that the war is not in the right direction.
Russia began its military operations in Ukraine, on the twenty-fourth of last February, by trying to completely control its neighbor, so it sent forces to the vicinity of the capital, Kyiv, and the bet was to overthrow the political leadership, but this goal was dissipated within weeks, so the Russian forces withdrew.
Subsequently, Russia announced its entry into the “B” phase of military operations, by focusing on the regions of eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists are concentrated, in addition to the south, but this goal was not easy in turn.
Ukrainian forces have benefited greatly from generous Western military support, while Moscow says it is pressing ahead with the war, because Kyiv’s help will only serve to prolong the conflict.
On the impact of these losses, Western warnings have been coming, recently, of Russia resorting to the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in the West, in order to tip the scales of the conflict in its favor, in light of the inability to advance and defeat the Ukrainians, in the framework of the current war formula.
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