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Russian police have arrested five people who suggested to the authorities to arrest and prosecute President Vladimir Putin for treason, who launched an invasion of Ukraine with devastating consequences for Russia and its interests.
“Several city councilors in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg [him] It’s treason and calling for his removal is very important,” Rebecca Koffler, a former DIA agent and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital.
“They know the punishment is severe. They could easily be sentenced to death under Russian Federation law. you can’t.”
Lawmakers have called on the central governing body known as the Duma to punish Putin for the deaths of countless military personnel, urge economic sanctions from other countries, expand NATO and build military power in Ukraine.
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Their first point, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, is that the president is blamed for the loss of the army. The second problem is the economy. Lawmakers are pointing to the withdrawal of investors from Russia and a “brain drain”.
The group also encouraged formerly neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO, thereby making Putin directly responsible for increasing the alliance’s strength and presence on Russia’s borders.
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But the day after the seven delegates drafted their appeal, officials ordered them to report to the police for “discrediting the military.” Two of his deputies walked away without further action.
Ukraine’s offensive against Russia in the contested eastern Donbass region has seen a sharp turn of fortunes. Ukrainian forces advanced 30 miles in just three days from 1 September, making great progress in a massive offensive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also claimed that the military was able to retake some 400 square miles of territory held by the Russians in the past few months.
And Russia suffered heavy losses during that campaign. CIA Director William Burns and British Intelligence Director Sir Ronald Moore said in July that they believed Russia had lost about 15,000 soldiers and “probably tripled” that number wounded.
Koffler said if Ukraine can sustain this momentum, it could revive pressure among officials to take action and change Russia’s fate.
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“It is possible that they decided to risk their lives to spread the momentum to the Russian public to oust Putin,” Koffler said. “This is incredibly difficult because there are so many people,” he explained.
“Today, with the Ukrainian counterattack gaining momentum and Russia becoming as pariah as North Korea, I do not rule out the possibility of an internally organized regime change.
Kofler pointed out that the death of Mikhail Gorbachev may have prompted this act of defiance. Gorbachev helped restore relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. Thousands of Russians have come to mourn Gorbachev’s funeral, even though Putin tried to downplay its importance by ruling out a state funeral entirely and not attending the funeral himself.
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“We may be witnessing the beginning of the next chapter in Russian history,” Koffler said. We are dealing with nuclear powers.”