Russian TV Host's Putin Comment Draws Gasps From Fellow Guests
A stir was caused on Russian TV after a prominent media personality appeared to suggest the ousting of President Vladimir Putin amid Ukraine's ongoing incursion into the Kursk region .
On Sunday, TV host Vladimir Solovyov spoke on the situation in the country's western border regions, and argued that there would need to be dire consequences for Ukrainian "terrorist" attacks on Russian soil.
These included executing members of "Navalny's network," referring to supporters of political activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny , who died in February while serving a prison sentence at a corrective colony in the Russian arctic.
Solovyov appeared to say that, as a result of Ukraine's incursion, which began on August 6, "a resignation is necessary."
It was unclear whether he was referring to resignations by officials near the border, or by the country's leaders, but the comment resulted in exasperation from his guests, which included State Duma member Andrey Gurulyov .
Independent Russian news agency Agency News, which posted the exchange on Telegram , said that the misunderstanding stemmed from the guests hearing Solovyov utter Otstavka, meaning resignation.
According to Agency News, he was more likely using the term Stavka, and was calling for the creation of a "headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief," referring to a pre-revolutionary military body of the Russian Imperial Army.
The Stavka served as the headquarters for the army during World War I, first led by Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich and later by his cousin, Emperor Nicholas II.
While the reaction to Solovyov's comment are understandable given his reference to a now-obscure military body, it signals the hold that the Russian president maintains over the country and the infeasibility of his abdication or overthrow.
Vladimir Putin has been in power since 2000, at various times exchanging the role of president and prime minister with Dmitry Medvedev .
In 2021, however, the Russian leader signed into law a bill that would remove the two-term presidential limits, and allow him to potentially hold onto the highest office until 2036.
In the March 2024 presidential election , Putin faced little opposition and secured a fifth term with over 88 percent of the vote.
Putin's popularity was apparently bolstered by the invasion of Ukraine, according to independent Russian pollster The Levada Center , and his approval ratings jumped from 69 percent in January 2022 to 83 percent by March.
The deaths of Yevgeny Progozhin , following the failed Wagner Group uprising in June 2023, and prominent Putin detractor Alexei Navalny in early 2024, also removed two of the president's main rivals .
However, the significant casualties sustained during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, alongside the damage being inflicted on the Russian economy due to a growing list of sanctions could pose a threat to Putin's hold on power.
The ongoing incursion by Ukrainian forces into the Kursk region , and the capture by Kyiv's forces of some 500 square miles of Russian territory, has also elicited criticism of Putin from high-ranking figures within the country.
In early September, leading State Duma figure Yevgeny Fyodorov criticized the efforts by Moscow to downplay the raid, and questioned the "official propaganda" emerging from the Kremlin, which claimed that the Ukrainian forces would be swiftly defeated by the Russian military .
