There’s a Plot To Physically Remove Putin From Power
(UnitedVoice.com) – Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a war on Ukraine at the end of February and has refused to end it. Tens of thousands of his military members have died or been injured. Russians across the country have erupted in protests, angry at their leader for risking their lives. Hundreds of thousands of men have fled the nation due to Putin’s draft.
The anger directed at the Russian leader goes much further than harmless talk. There is reportedly a plot to take him out — and not at the voting booth.
Assassination Plot
On November 6, European media company Euractiv published a bombshell report about a recent meeting in Poland. According to journalist Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, a group of opposition leaders met to discuss what to do about Putin.
Ilya Ponomarev, a former Russian lawmaker who voted against annexing Crimea in 2014, organized the meeting that included 22 ex-officials who oppose Putin. Activist Viacheslav Maltsev said the only way to stop the president would be through civil war. The media outlet quoted him as saying, “The main goal is to physically eliminate Putin.”
Ponomarev said the opposition leaders who showed up at the meeting were “legitimate representatives of the Russian nation […] that have not profaned their honour [sic] by [cooperating] with Putin’s dictatorship and [participating] in its crimes.”
Gazeta Wyborcza, a Polish daily paper, reported lawyer Alexei Baranovsky, an ally of Ponomarev, said that Putin isn’t the only person rebels should assassinate; he suggested the group also kill Russians who support the president.
Not All Oppositionists Agree
Although many opposition leaders are advocating the straight-up assassinations of Putin and his allies, not all of them want to go that route. Alexei Navalny, the most well-known opposition leader, doesn’t support the plan. While he’s serving a prison sentence for standing up to the Russian leader, his associates have refused to participate in plans to take out the authoritarian leader.
Agnieszka Legucka, an analyst working at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, is also critical of plots to physically remove Putin from power. She explained there are other opposition organizations people can support rather than the one organized by Ponomarev.
In September, the Daily Mail reported that Russian politicians from several cities released a statement saying they believed the president was “inflict[ing] harm on the future of Russia and its citizens.” They demanded Putin resign from office. The president did no such thing, and it doesn’t look like he intends to relinquish power any time soon.
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