Ukrainian intelligence says whether there will be a coup in Russia 

He made the statement in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

When asked whether he believes that even in the event of Russia's actual defeat, if Ukraine expels Russian troops beyond its state borders, there could be some kind of rebellion against Putin at the level of the elites, Budanov replied, "No, they have been considering the options of transferring power and have been considering them for over a year now, but they cannot come to any conclusion. This is a completely different question for us. Can there be a palace coup? Yes, it can."

However, according to the DIU chief, society will not witness it.

"At most, they will say that someone died of a heart attack, and someone was arrested because he turned out to be an agent of British intelligence, as it was in the 1930s, remember? It all happened before. During the Livonian War, many were executed as agents of the Livonian state. This goes back to the Middle Ages," he said.

The intelligence officer also modeled how a rebellion against Putin could go unnoticed.

"For example, a message will appear: "Mourning, died in his sleep of a heart attack". And that's it - "the king is dead, long live the king!" he suggests.

In addition, Russia's military and political elites are already discussing candidates for his successor. According to Budanov, there is more than one candidate. However, he did not name them.

• On April 24, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said that if the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula is liberated before Donbas, the war will continue. He also explained why the Russian army is trying to capture Bakhmut despite significant losses.