Is Vladimir Putin about to be overthrown in a palace coup?
In the past several days I have been surprised, shocked at the level of criticism of the way the war in Ukraine is being conducted now aired daily on Russian state television. Applying my skills as a Sovietologist from the past, I would say on this basis that a coup against Mr. Putin is being prepared. News presenters who take their cues from on high and who in the past said it is not for us to tell the Supreme Military Commander how to wage the war are now doing just that both by their criticism of the escalatory path due to Western perceptions of Russia as weak and by extensive air time given to the derogatory remarks and taunts being addressed to Putin by Donald Trump and his entourage including J.D. Vance.
Normally ultra-loyal pro-Putin shows like ‘Sixty Minutes,’ hosted by Duma member Yevgeny Popov, who is the protégé of the general manager of news on Russian television, Dmitry Kiselyov, have given extensive coverage to the remarks of Donald trump to the 800 assembled generals and top officers of the U.S. military at a base outside Washington, D.C. when Trump said how disappointed he was the Putin did not defeat Kiev in a week at the start of the Special Military Operation, how U.S. nuclear submarines dispatched to positions close to Russia are 25 years ahead of Russian submarines in technology and, generally, how Russia looks like a ‘paper tiger.’ The widely watched talk show ‘Evening with Vladimir Solovyov’ put up on screen the latest interview with J.D. Vance in which he states that the Russian economy is in tatters, that the territorial advances of the Russian army in Ukraine are insignificant and that thousands of Russians and Ukrainians are dying each week for nothing.
Official polling data shows that Vladimir Putin’s popularity rating among Russians has descended lately from 80% to 79%, which is negligible. But no one is asking the public whether the war is being prosecuted correctly, and I believe that if that were done a majority would be found to say ‘no.’
On consideration, I see two possibilities to explain the harsh criticism of Putin’s war of attrition on television. The first, as I say at the outset, is that political forces which are prepared to oust Putin and replace him with a more aggressive figure are preparing the public for what is about to happen. The other possibility is that Putin himself is about to change course and do what a large part of Russia’s political establishment wants: namely to attempt a decapitation strike against the Zelensky regime using Oreshniks and other strike missiles to wipe out the neo-Nazi, deeply anti-Russian gang that has held Ukraine by the neck ever since the February 2014 coup d’etat.
We may see very shortly which of these alternative explanations is true.
I will be exploring these matters in greater depth in interviews later today with ‘Judging Freedom.’
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2025
The distinctive feature of the U.S. playbook for war is that it does everything possible to bait its would be victim into an overt attack so that the U.S. can portray itself as the victim ("good guy") fighting a morally justified and necessary "defensive" war against the aggressor ("bad guys, evildoers, axis of evil"). It does this to manipulate emotions to bring its own population, normally not enthusiastic about war, to support its war (or be silenced as traitors). Americans are programmed to believe they are the virtuous good guys with the white hats. This has been the pattern from the beginning. The Boston Tea Party to get the British to attack, pushing the Confederates to attack Fort Sumter, blowing up the Maine to justify Spanish American War, inventing the Zimmerman memo, cutting of oil to the Japanese to provoke the attack at Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin, 9/11 and WMDs for Afghanistan and Iraq, the list goes on. It's been the method in Ukraine and this is the latest chapter. Given the stakes, Putin has wisely been trying to short-circuit the progress of this scenario. I don't believe we should be joining the parade, whatever its emotional appeal.
I think Putin is just as capable of arranging public commentary that is "misinformation" and "misdirection" as Trump, or even more capable. Since it is clear Trump desperately wants war in Iran and Russia and who knows where else, Putin may well be sending signals to confuse the imbecile US and NATO bosses, whoever they are. Most of the information now emanating is "fog". The only thing one can rely on is death and destruction and stupidity from Trump and serious, sober and well reasoned strategy from Putin. One of the two is trying to save the world from Nuclear Holocaust.