Vladimir Putin reportedly threatened his officials with “trumped-up criminal charges” should they try to resign from their roles within the Kremlin, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a startling move to come as Russia continues to struggle against Ukraine after nearly 15 months of fighting, the 70-year-old Russian leader has reportedly implemented a ban that would prevent his underlings from fleeing their roles in his despotic administration.
Putin’s resignation bans reportedly came as a number of senior Kremlin staffers grew “highly skeptical” about the leader’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to Daily Mail.
The outlet also reported that Putin implemented the ban in an effort to avoid “any impression of defeatism” in connection to the conflict.
“The Russian state is likely effectively banning senior officials from resigning from their jobs while the ‘special military operation continues,’” the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense reported on Thursday.
“The measures likely extend to at least regional leaders, security officials, and members of the powerful presidential administration,” the MoD source continued. “In private, many officials are likely highly skeptical about the war, as well as often experiencing work stress within the dysfunctional wartime apparatus.”
“The ban is likely enforced with strong hints that resignees will face trumped-up criminal charges.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin sources familiar with Putin’s new resignation ban revealed that at least two Russian officials were threatened with criminal prosecution when they attempted to resign shortly after the war was launched in February 2022.
“I am aware of at least two cases when governors tried to leave their posts, but in the internal policy department of the presidential administration, they were not just banned, it was also hinted at that they could face criminal prosecution,” one former Kremlin official shared.
“There are many who want to leave after the start of the war,” added another Russian insider. “If everyone leaves, control will be lost.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Putin’s new resignation ban marks the latest incident to signify the leader’s lack of support amid his widely condemned invasion of Ukraine.
A cache of leaked Pentagon documents revealed a rumor circulating in Russia that two well-placed Kremlin officials were scheming to “sabotage” Russia’s involvement in Ukraine while Putin underwent treatment for an alleged cancer diagnosis.
“According to [the source], who received the information from an unidentified Russian source with access to Kremlin officials, Russia planned to divert resources from the Taganrog, Russia to Mariupol, Ukraine, and focus its attention on the southern front,” the documents, which leaked in April, read.
“According to [the source],” the classified memo continued, “the plan for ‘the offensive’ was suspected to be a strategy devised by Russian National Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev and Russian Chief of the General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov to sabotage Putin.”
