Putin plans to replace Crimea's top Russian-installed official, partisan group claims
Russian President Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to remove Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed leader of temporarily occupied Crimea, from office. A replacement has already been identified, according to the Atesh partisan movement.
Insiders from the Atesh partisan movement within the peninsula's administration have learned of the Kremlin's new plans.
According to them, Putin plans to remove Aksyonov even though he has held the post for more than 12 years.
"He is the one they plan to hold fully responsible for the looming humanitarian catastrophe and failures in supplying Crimea," the partisans said.
In this way, the Kremlin leader wants to reduce social tensions and curb growing dissatisfaction with the authorities among the local population.
The partisans believe Putin is counting on a large-scale personnel purge to help him deal with the situation.
Atesh believes the Russian leader plans to resort to the classic "good tsar, bad boyar" strategy.
"Realizing that his position has weakened, Aksyonov began to panic. He has now launched a flurry of activity that produces no results: staging public reprimands, openly threatening local 'deputies,' and trying to create an image for Moscow of total control and a 'strong hand,'" Atesh said.
According to the partisans, Aksyonov is expected to be dismissed immediately after the September "elections."
Who could replace Aksyonov in Crimea
Atesh stressed that the list of candidates for the post is currently very short.
According to the movement, Putin is leaning toward appointing the so-called interior minister of the Republic of Crimea, Alexey Dmitriev.
The Kremlin reportedly wants to put a security official in charge of the peninsula who would be able to suppress growing discontent.
At the same time, Putin could choose one of the military commanders involved in his Time of Heroes program.
The reported plans come as Crimea faces mounting pressure. Crimean authorities have warned residents about the risk of a failure across the peninsula's entire power system, while Ukrainian drone strikes have disrupted a key logistics route used by Russian forces.
