President Vladimir Putin's inner circle appears to be crumbling after he arrested his own military chief and the head of the Russian Central Bank resigned. Elvira Nabiullina, 58, reportedly handed in her resignation after arguing with Putin over the devastation caused by Western Sanctions on the Russian people.
The war in Ukraine is into its third week and it is rumoured the president did not expect Western sanctions to be so severe. General Roman Gavrilov, deputy chief of Russia's Rosgvardia Unit, has been arrested by the Federal Service of the Russian Federation - with the reason for his imprisonment unclear, according to Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist.
He cites a course which says he was detained over "leaks of military info that led to loss of life", while two others say it was "wasteful squandering of fuel", reports The Mirror.
While Ms Nabiullina reportedly told Putin that his invasion of Ukraine has plunged the Russian economy into a “sewer”, adding: “I am an expert in a completely different field.” The loss of Nabiullina, would pose a huge blow to Putin and signal a deepening crisis for the crisis-ridden Russian economy which has seen the rouble plunge and the massive loss of international financial links.
She is respected both in Moscow and the West as a highly competent technocrat, one of the best central bankers in the world who has guided Russia through relative stability even amid worsening relations with the West - but the war on Ukraine may have changed her line. She showed her concern for the economic impact of Western sanctions in the wake of Putin’s invasion by wearing black and no brooch in a press conference after his invasion of Ukraine.
In her famous press conference on 28 February - not wearing a brooch - she vowed to “take all necessary measures to protect financial and price stability, support the Russian financial sector and protect the well-being of citizens and the economy as a whole.”
She reportedly warned him in a video meeting he will soon face tearaway inflation at around 70 per cent and shocked him with the sewer analogy. She had earlier made clear that high inflation could undermine the central bank’s credibility.
“Putin was so embarrassed by such audacity that he almost immediately ended the meeting,” said one account.
He had been expected to ratify a third term for her by 24 March but this now seems in doubt. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to confirm she would be reappointed.
Her deputy Vladimir Chistyukhin is spoken of as a successor. But her loss at the helm of the Russian Central Bank - especially in a period of unprecedented turmoil - could itself deepen Moscow’s economic crisis.
She has been the target of a campaign to blame her for the impact of asset freezes on influential oligarchs imposed by the West when the reason for these were the decision to go to war with Ukraine. An ethnic Tatar, Putin is seen as unable to “repress” her because it would be an admission of his mistake in appointing her.
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