Paranoia or a real scenario: after Maduro’s capture, the Kremlin is looking for traitors next to Putin
7 January 15:46
The Kremlin is once again looking for traitors, and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels are scaring of a “Venezuelan scenario” – that Vladimir Putin could be “betrayed by his own people.” Parallels with the fall of Nicolas Maduro’s regime are being presented as a real threat, and the rhetoric is getting tougher. But is Russia really on the verge of an internal coup, or is it just media hysteria and an attempt to intimidate the elites? Is treason possible in Putin’s inner circle?
The Telegram channel Kremlin Snuffbox, which claims to have sources in the Kremlin, reported that inspections are allegedly being prepared in the inner circle of Russian President Putin due to fears of internal betrayal. According to the channel’s interlocutors, the Kremlin considers the current period to be “particularly difficult” and fraught with risks for the current government.
“It’s probably no secret that there are very influential people in Russia who want our country to stop fighting for ‘Victory’ and make it easier for them to make money. These citizens are ready to do anything for their own benefit – even to betray and threaten the president.” – Telegram channel “Kremlin Snuffbox ”
The channel’s authors link these fears to the events in Venezuela, where, as they claim, the power of Nicolas Maduro was undermined by internal treason. Now, they say, there is a real threat to Putin.
Another interlocutor, whom the channel also attributes to the dictator’s inner circle, said that it was necessary to immediately “clean up” the president’s entourage.
“We have to do several things now. We have to search for traitors, first of all, in Vladimir Vladimirovich’s entourage. So that, God forbid, it doesn’t happen like with Maduro, who was betrayed by traitors,” Kremlin Snuffbox sources said
The article ends with direct threats against the alleged “traitors,” in particular those who are close to the Russian president. They promise that the traitors will not survive in the coming months.
There is no official confirmation of this information from the Kremlin. At the same time, such rhetoric may indicate an intensification of internal struggles in the Russian elites and preparations for a new wave of repression.
Venezuelan scenario with Putin: myth or reality?
Commenting on the events surrounding Nicolas Maduro, Sergiy Yagodzinsky, Vice-Rector of the European University, Doctor of Science, Professor in a commentary "Komersant Ukrainian" drew attention to the role of the internal factor, in particular the security forces.
“As for Maduro himself, pay attention to the way he was captured. It looks like he was handed over by his own security,” Yagodzinsky said.
According to him, the version of internal treason is quite likely.
“And Maduro’s kidnapping probably happened for a reason,” Yahodzinsky concluded.
At the same time, the scenario in which Russian President Vladimir Putin could lose power similar to the events in Venezuela is unlikely and is more in the realm of fantasy.
“The story that happened with Maduro will obviously not happen with Putin. We need to forget about it. These are fantasies, we would like to joke about it,” Yahodzinsky said.
Thus, the expert believes that despite the rumors and information injections in pro-Russian Telegram channels, the direct transfer of the Venezuelan scenario to Russian realities is incorrect and does not correspond to political reality.
