We know little of what has been happening inside the halls of power in Moscow these past few days. Outwardly, although the Kremlin has projected business as usual and its propaganda machine has been working hard to justify the "special military operation" – we are also seeing the first signs of unrest.
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In a conversation with Israel Hayom, a very senior official in the Russian opposition party, which operates outside the Russian political system, said that within the halls of the Kremlin officials were "depressed and disappointed," and that the sentiment being repeated was that "Putin betrayed us."
"It's only been a few days; I assume that ultimately a group will rise that will remove him from power," the official added.
The official's statements were bolstered by the news website "Agenstvo" (formerly "Proekt"), a leader in the field of Russian political commentary. According to Agentsvo, sources in within the Russian government and in financial circles in Russia say they were unprepared for the economic sanctions imposed by the West and for Putin's decision to launch a war. A high-ranking official told the website that he "didn't know" the Russian army would embark on a broad invasion of Ukraine and that other officials were stunned upon learning war had begun.
"It's simply incomprehensible," said one Kremlin official. Putin's cabinet, the official added, had indeed prepared to contend with European sanctions in the wake of Moscow's recognition of the separatist republics Luhansk and Donetsk, but it was unaware of the decision to launch a war. A senior official in a government-owned corporation said the scenario that was planned for included being disconnected from SWIFT (the system of execution of financial transactions and payments between banks worldwide), and that other large companies tested their ability to function if they were barred from global supplies of microchips and software; but that no one foresaw the mass abandonment of the European markets' and virtually all Western companies.
"Everyone is in shock," a source close to the Russian presidency told Agenstvo, but stressed that no one has dared jump ship. "If you resign, the only place you're going is to jail," the source continued. The report comes amid the backdrop of remarks by two Russian oligarchs with ties to the Kremlin, Oleg Deripaska and Ukrainian-born Mikhail Fridman. The two broke have called for an end to Russia's war there and according to some reports, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has asked to be part of the ceasefire negotiations.
Putin's most bitter political adversary, meanwhile, Alexei Navalny, called on Russians to stage daily protests against Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, depicting Putin as an "obviously insane tsar."
Navalny was jailed last year after his return from Germany following treatment for what Western laboratory tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent in Siberia. He said he was sentenced on trumped-up charges.
From his prison cell, he called for protests across the country and abroad to signal that not all Russians support the war and show solidarity with the thousands of people detained in anti-war protests in Russia since last week's invasion.
"We cannot wait even a day longer. Wherever you are. In Russia, Belarus or on the other side of the planet. Go out onto the main square of your city every weekday at [7 p.m.] and at 2 p.m.] at weekends and on holidays," he said in a statement published on Twitter by his spokesperson.
Navalny said Russia wanted to be a nation of peace but few people would call it that now.
"Let's at least not become a nation of frightened silent people. Of cowards who pretend not to notice the aggressive war against Ukraine unleashed by our obviously insane tsar," he said.
"I am from the USSR. I was born there. And the main phrase from there – from my childhood – was 'fight for peace.' I call on everyone to come out to the streets and fight for peace... Putin is not Russia."
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