The beginning of the end for Putin?

From all around the world, everyone has been stunned by what can only be described as a disorderly and undisciplined retreat of Putin's troops from the battlefield, following a collapse Russia's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale. 

As reported by BBC News,

"Ukrainian officials said troops entered Kupiansk, a vital eastern supply hub for Russian forces, on Saturday.

Russia's defence ministry then said its troops have retreated from nearby Izyum to allow them "to regroup".

The ministry also confirmed the withdrawal of troops from a third key town, Balaklyia, in order to "bolster efforts" on the Donetsk front. (BBC News : 11 September 2022) (my emphasis)

As also reported by CBS News,

"Russia's Defense Ministry announced Saturday that it's pulling back troops from two areas in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has made significant advances in the past week.
...
The news came after days of apparent advances by Ukraine south of Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, in what could become the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted a Russian attempt to seize the capital of Kyiv at the start of the nearly seven-month war.

 Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region and earlier this week social media videos showed residents of Balakliya joyfully cheering as Ukrainian troops moved in. (CBS News : 10 September 2022) (my emphasis) (cf Also: Emmanuel Parrise: Yahoo News (AFP): 10 Sept 2022)

And now, ominously for Putin's own survival, Allison Quinn reports that,

"More and more Russian officials are urging Vladimir Putin to get the hell out of the Kremlin as Moscow suffered another series of humiliating defeats in Ukraine this weekend.

Just one day after several municipal deputies in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg called on the State Duma to try the Russian leader for treason, their colleagues in Moscow joined in and demanded he step down because his views are “hopelessly outdated.”" (Yahoo (Daily Beast article): 11 September 2022) (my emphasis)

Allison Quinn goes on to further report that,

"The same Russian propagandists who’d spent the first six months of the war thumping their chests about a supposedly “inevitable victory” suddenly changed their tune. Margarita Simonyan (left), the editor-in-chief of RT who’d repeatedly called for Moscow to mercilessly obliterate Ukraine, suddenly posted a sentimental screed on Twitter calling for unity between the two nations.

Margarita Simonyan : YouTube : 28 APRIL 2022

Even the pro-Kremlin Telegram channels run by Russian military bloggers had a dramatic change of tune as Ukraine claimed new wins Saturday: They began to openly blast military leadership—and Putin personally—for the embarrassing failures. (ibid Allison Quinn)

Even more ominously disturbing for Putin is the report by Russia's TASS that,

"Germany will continue providing Ukraine with military support, including with weapons, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (right) said on Saturday in a televised
interview with RTL and nt-v channels during her visit to Kiev.

"Looking at eastern and southern Ukraine, we see how important the supplies of weapons are," she said.

"In particular, the weapons we supply have now made it possible to retake some cities," Baerbock claimed. "That is why we need to maintain support with [delivering] weapons in the coming few months," she added." (TASS : 10 September 2022) (my emphasis)

And now, as reported by Arthur Parashar (left),

"Vladimir Putin's disgraced invasion of Ukraine could hinge on Russia's inability to gain access to high-tech electrical components due to the sanctions inflicted on them

• Russia is being hit by a severe technology deficit which is inflicted by sanctions 
• Outcome of the war could hinge on Russia's access to high-tech microchips 
• Ukraine sent out international warnings of Russian attempts to get components 
• Russia believed to have 'shopping list' of components needed to fuel war effort  
  

Russian troops are now increasingly reliant on Soviet-era stocks of ammunition, having fired off more firepower than many could have anticipated - including themselves." (Mail Online : 10 September 2022) (my emphasis)

As the sanctions against Putin bites even deeper, and the rank and file of Putin's "siloviki" begin to openly critisize him, as evidenced by :

• Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT who’d repeatedly called for Moscow to mercilessly obliterate Ukraine, suddenly posted a sentimental screed on Twitter calling for unity between the two nations.
• Russian military bloggers beginning to openly blast military leadership—and Putin personally—for embarrassing failures 
• More and more Russian officials urging Vladimir Putin to get the hell out of the Kremlin  AND
  
• several municipal deputies in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg called on the State Duma to try the Russian leader for treason,

will Putin's top 'siloviki' be able to control this growing Russian anger with Putin when the people of Russia finally unseat him from power?

                                     Sergei Shoigu          Valery Gerasimo   Nikolai Patrushev        Viktor Zolotov

 

                                  Sergey Naryshkin        Sergei Lavrov    Valentina Matviyenko    Alexander Bortnikov

Or will they, too, be hounded and removed from power by the Russian people.

This is the $64 question that is now beginning to loom large as the collapse of Putin's regime begins to gain momentum.

 

 (to be continued)