Putin's crisis plan: Patrushev to oversee shipbuilding and repression
2:16 PM EDT, May 21, 2024
Nikolai Patrushev is one of Vladimir Putin's most trusted men. According to media reports, the Russian president has indicated him as a potential successor. The former Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation has a plan to combat the country’s impending crisis, which is reportedly approaching rapidly and will affect the Russian economy later this year.
Vladimir Putin, who started another presidential term last week, appointed former Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and Tula Governor Alexei Dyumin as his assistants.
Patrushev, one of Putin’s closest security officials, served as Secretary of the Security Council for the last 16 years. He is now an advisor. Patrushev, an FSB officer by training, has known Putin for years and is among his most trusted individuals.
According to the authorities' plan, Nikolai Patrushev will oversee issues related to the shipbuilding industry in Russia, but "there will also be other functions" that he will fulfill. Patrushev was one of the main participants in Monday’s consultations of the so-called "Politburo 2.0," where reports from the leadership of the newly established economic bloc of the Government and the leadership of the Central Bank were discussed.
As read on platform X, the reports primarily include warnings about the approaching economic and financial crisis and proposals for urgent actions. Russia is expected to experience a severe downturn later this year, as reported by the mysterious blogger "General SVR," the same one who wrote about Vladimir Putin's death in the fall.
He also argued that the country is run by the elite sitting in the Kremlin and the president's doubles.
Increasing pressure. Putin's man's idea for the crisis
What method does Nikolai Patrushev have to combat the crisis? It's not particularly "sophisticated," considering the history of Russia and the former intelligence officer's activities. One of Putin’s key men plans to block any potential increase in social tension in the event of a crisis through intensified repression in the near future.
The authorities intend to punish any manifestations of widely understood dissent severely, and the first to be targeted will be "ultra-patriots" with radical views. All this is to control the unrest in the country and continue the war in Ukraine without hindrance. The Kremlin’s gray eminence, as Patrushev is called, knows how to manage this.
