Officials from the Russian city of St. Petersburg have called on the country’s State Duma to remove President Vladimir Putin from power for committing crimes of treason. The elected officials, led by Russian Deputy Dmitry Palyuga, have all been summoned on charges of “discrediting the ruling authorities.”
On Wednesday, Nikita Yurefev, a municipal deputy for Smolninskoye in St. Petersburg, published on Twitter details of their proposal to charge the Russian president with high treason. The charge and all of the reasons behind it were connected to the Kremlin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The officials complained that the president’s actions “pose a threat to Russia’s security,” and accused him of 1) the death and endangerment of the members of the military, 2) the resulting problems in the economy, 3) the expansion of NATO around the Russian border to include Sweden and Finland when both nations were formerly neutral, and 4) the militarization of Ukraine, pointing out that the country has now received $38 billion worth of weapons to arm itself against Russia, which was the inverse of what the so-called special operation was supposed to do in Ukraine.
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The deputies received their police summons a day after the proposal was drafted. According to Palyuga, two of them were released, while Palyuga, Yurefev, and the others will be fined.
Palyuga also said, in an interview with Prague-based, Russian-language TV channel Current Time TV, that the chances of the State Duma pushing for the appeal were “nearly zero.”
“But it is important for us that there are deputies in Russia and that their voice is heard so that they do not think that everyone in Russia supports a special military operation,” Palyuga said. “There are government officials at the municipal level who do not support a special military operation.”
In a recent address, Putin claimed Russia has “lost nothing” in the war in Ukraine. But the numbers and the success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the past few days say the opposite.
Over the weekend, the Russian military continued to retreat from the northeastern Ukraine positions they have occupied for months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address that he is confident that the Ukrainian military will liberate all Russian-occupied territories and reach Ukraine’s borders.
According to the New York Times, Russian state television has been reporting the retreat as a “carefully planned ‘regrouping operation,’” with the troops being praised for their heroism and professionalism.
Information for this briefing was found via Twitter, Kyiv Independent, Fox News, Newsweek, the New York Times, and the other sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
