The war with Ukraine, now in its fourth year, and the drastic expansion of the powers of the security structures have caused deep ruptures in Russia’s governance system, pushing it towards internal power struggles.
According to sources close to the Kremlin, quoted by “Important Stories”, what is happening at the top increasingly resembles growing chaos: usual decision-making mechanisms are being destroyed, everyone is pulling resources towards their own faction, and the security services are acting without limits, as they please.
“There is a systemic battle for any kind of resources. Because they have become much fewer,” explains one of the interlocutors, who works for the Kremlin.
He observes that the political system is “gradually sliding” into a state “where there are no longer any rules, good or bad”. “Everyone has understood: on one hand there are no longer any boundaries, you can do anything; on the other hand, no one is protected, and the ‘correct’ behavior or the ‘right’ relationships guarantee nothing. For no one. Absolutely no one,” says the source.