The Telegraph has pointed out what Putin is afraid of

With Vladimir Putin's rise to power, Russia has finally turned into a totalitarian state, and now the Kremlin is struggling to maintain the precarious stability of its regime, according to The Telegraph.

The newspaper notes that the Russian Federal Security Service has accused Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile in London, and 22 members of the Russian Anti-War Committee of preparing "a violent seizure of power and overthrowing the constitutional order." Experts say such accusations are a sign of growing unease in the Kremlin.

It speaks of Putin's paranoia. He is looking for enemies to strengthen his regime," former US ambassador to Ukraine and Atlantic Council expert John Herbst said.

The publication recalls that in the summer of 2023, the Kremlin already faced an internal threat when Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenaries from the PMC Wagner moved on Moscow. The mutiny failed, and Prigozhin died in a plane crash shortly afterwards.

Khodorkovsky, who spent ten years in a Siberian prison, now heads the Anti-War Committee, set up in 2022. He believes the new FSB charges are an attempt by Putin to discredit the opposition and intimidate those who might become alternatives to the current government.

If Putin dies tomorrow, he has no obvious successor," he said in a comment to the publication.

The politician emphasised that all branches of power in Russia actually belong to Putin.

The prime minister is appointed by him, the courts are appointed by him, the parliament is formed through rigged elections - no one believes in the legitimacy of this," Khodorkovsky pointed out.

According to experts, the Kremlin is deliberately stepping up rhetoric about "external enemies" and Western interference to justify internal repression.

They want to strengthen Putin's position by indoctrinating Russians that the West is seeking to destroy Russia," explained Angela Stent, director of the Centre for Eurasian Studies at Georgetown University.

Khodorkovsky, for his part, said Putin's regime is increasingly dependent on China.

Putin's military machine is held together by cooperation with Beijing. Xi Jinping could collapse the Russian economy and stop the war tomorrow if he wanted to," he said.

Experts agree: Russia has entered a critical phase. The intensification of sanctions and internal repression show Putin's fear of the future.

It seems that the wind of change has already blown. This is a turning point for Russia," said Tom Keating, director of the Centre for Finance and Security at the British Institute for Defence Studies.