Putin faces signs of mutiny in own government as protests break out in east

[bijou]

Subordinates have begun openly to defy Mr Putin, a man whose diktat has inspired fear and awe in the echelons of power for nine years, according to government sources. Meanwhile a rift is emerging between Mr Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, the figurehead whom he groomed as his supposedly pliant successor.

As Russia's economy begins to implode after years of energy-driven growth, Mr Putin is facing the germs of an unexpected power struggle which could hamper his ambition to project Russian might abroad.

Mounting job losses and a collapse in the price of commodities have triggered social unrest on a scale not seen for at least four years, prompting panic among Kremlin officials more accustomed to the political apathy of the Russian people.

The unease was deepened yesterday after thousands of protestors marched through the Pacific port city of Vladivostok and other cities, including Moscow, demanding Mr Putin's resignation for his handling of the flailing Russian economy.

...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/4414018/Vladimir-Putin-faces-signs-of-mutiny-in-own-government-as-protests-break-out-in-east.html

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

nice

[BlueStateSaint]

The one problem with this, that I see, is this:  What will Putin do, what sort of desperate measure, will he undertake in order to remain in power?  We have heard that, in the after math of the collapse of the Berlin Wall/Warsaw Pact, that the Soviet high command was considering initiating a nuclear war in order to maintain their command and control over the WarPac.  What would Putin, or what will Putin, do in order to maintain power?  I would think that his enemies within the corridors of power in the Kremlin would want him dead, and they would go a fair distance towards attaining that goal.  So, Putin would go further to foil their prospects.

Would Putin launch nuclear missiles--the only part of the Soviet/Russian armed forces that still works?

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

The one problem with this, that I see, is this:  What will Putin do, what sort of desperate measure, will he undertake in order to remain in power?  We have heard that, in the after math of the collapse of the Berlin Wall/Warsaw Pact, that the Soviet high command was considering initiating a nuclear war in order to maintain their command and control over the WarPac.  What would Putin, or what will Putin, do in order to maintain power?  I would think that his enemies within the corridors of power in the Kremlin would want him dead, and they would go a fair distance towards attaining that goal.  So, Putin would go further to foil their prospects.

Would Putin launch nuclear missiles--the only part of the Soviet/Russian armed forces that still works?

I find the NorKs to be far more unstable but even they are 98% bluster.

Putin may be a seeping sack of hammered shit on a sagging stick but at least he's a rationale and self-preserving seeping sack of hammered shit on a sagging stick.

[Baruch Menachem]

He was living high on  high oil prices for years.

Now the piper has come for his payment, and it looks like he is going to get caught in the shorts.

Power is very important to him, so he will find ways to make this work.   But he has been in power for a real long time, so I am pretty sure the average russian is very tired of him.  He may not  go quietly into that good night, but he will have to go.  And none too soon.

[Airwolf]

The tzar's had power to and they failed to maintain it

[ironhorsedriver]

Putin has the backing of the military and security services. He'll drop the shoe on dissidents if it gets to far out of hand I believe.