According to experts in Russia, President Vladimir Putin has lost the trust of his subordinates due to setbacks in the Russian military and the impact of Moscow's economic sanctions.
Last year in February, Russia launched military action against Ukraine, with Putin assuming that Russian forces would quickly conquer the country, even bringing their parade uniforms with them.
The Russian forces have now been fighting in Ukraine for almost a year, resulting in tens of thousands of Russian soldiers being killed and hundreds of thousands of Russians fleeing the country
The once strong and successful image of Putin is now beginning to crack. Gennadi Gudkov, a former KGB officer who now lives in exile, said that Putin has made many mistakes over the past year, as reported by The Times.
"Putin cannot govern the Kremlin as he did before. He made a lot of foolish mistakes, and this is understood by both military leaders and intelligence agencies. Even his close associates understand this," said Gudkov.
"Officials are becoming bolder, and there is more discord. There is no longer the same obedience that there was a year ago. This is a quiet rebellion against Putin," added Gudkov.
According to Gudkov, his sources include Kremlin officials and Russian businessmen. Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R.Politik, which analyzes Russian politics, said that officials are still hesitant to criticize Putin publicly.
"Many officials are disappointed. Many officials used to respect him, but not anymore," said Stanovaya.
Moscow's economic sanctions are taking a toll on Russia's economy. Russian oil and gas revenues are declining, and the finance ministry recently announced that the budget deficit reached 1.76 trillion rubles (25 billion dollars) in January. Foreign policy expert and journalist Fyodor Lukyanov said that Putin still believes he is fulfilling his historic mission.
According to Lukyanov, Putin was confident and calm as recently as October. "He is completely convinced that what he is doing is necessary. He believes that Russia is on the right side of history.
He didn't look like someone who was unaware of the situation. It seems that he is getting the right information, but it doesn't bother him," said Lukyanov.
Stanovaya said that Putin does not plan to acknowledge his loss. According to her, Putin still firmly believes that Western countries are to blame for the outbreak of war.
"Putin believes that he gave Ukraine too much time. He believes that if he had not taken action, Russia would cease to exist in a few years. He only regrets not starting the war earlier," said Stanovaya