These comments were made by former member of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, and longtime opposition figure Ilya Ponomarev on Radio NV.
"Currently, there is no circle within Russian society more opposition-minded, than the one in the Russian government. They are one hundred percent shocked by what is happening with the war, they do not agree with it, but there is nothing they can do. They do not understand what to do now. (They are told - ed.) that it is none of their business, that it is the decision of the great leader, and they have to just sit quietly and that's it," he said.
Ponomarev said that the vast majority of Putin's entourage would like to end the war in Ukraine with minimal losses for Russia and restore at least some ties with the West.
That means, he said, "the probability of an uprising and personal danger to Putin is growing daily”.
"It's obvious. But there's no trigger yet to get people to act. They're more afraid of doing something against Putin now than staying the way they are. I think that will change over time because there is a lot of dissatisfaction and pressure, and the pressure from the West will only grow," the opposition figure said.