Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov on Monday explained what may lead to Russian President Vladimir Putin eventually being ousted by his inner circle in a “palace coup.”
CNN’s Paula Reid asked the longtime Putin critic and political activist if he expected to see more anti-Kremlin sentiment building within Russia as its military invasion of Ukraine continues to falter.
“Eventually, yes,” replied Kasparov, a chess grandmaster for the Soviet Union and Russia.
Kasparov then laid out “the order of moves that cannot be reversed.”
“First, the Russian public and Russian elite, they have to recognize the war is lost,” he said. “The bad news coming from Ukraine will inspire more people to rise because economic hardship will increase.”
“So, military defeat in Ukraine, social-economic revolt and then you will have conditions, the right conditions for a palace coup,” Kasparov predicted. “Because many of Putin’s inner circle will be looking for a scapegoat and it’s always a dictator who should be blamed for all the failures.”
Putin knows losing the war on Ukraine “is not an option for him,” said Kasparov.
“It’s a matter of political survival and in many cases … of physical survival,” he added. “That’s why he has to pretend he is winning the war.”
Watch the interview here:
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
