Anonymous Russian FSB Letters Reveal Internal Turmoil in the Kremlin – Part 1
By: Sydney Johnson
One year ago today, on February 24, the Russian military launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, escalating the Russo-Ukraine conflict to war. Very few individuals have come forward with information about the war in Ukraine due to the threat of violence and imprisonment for speaking out. Heroically, some Russia-born activists are uncovering the truth as to what is happening within the borders of Russia and within the walls of the Kremlin. One of the activists, Vladimir Osechkin, runs a website that leaks videos, testimonies, and letters from primary witnesses and victims of Russia’s mistreatment of its citizens– all of whom are anonymous. Currently, Osechkin is on a Russian wanted list after leaking a large archive of documents about conditions in Russian prisons and is currently seeking amnesty in France. Without whistleblowers, the world would not know about the events and conversations that happened before the war and during its beginning phases.
In the first week of March 2022, days after the invasion, a Russian FSB agent anonymously wrote three letters to Oschekin about economic strain from sanctions, military restrictions, morale deficiencies, concerns about economic recovery, and Putin’s psychological wellbeing. Despite being anonymous, this whistleblower exposed how extreme the tensions and reactions are within the Kremlin. The letters show the situation is worse than originally thought and that it continues to worsen a year later. With a power-hungry dictator who surrounds himself with “yes” men, we see him go against the obvious in a losing war. To Putin and the Kremlin, Russia can win the war in Ukraine. However, according to the letters, Putin will not be able to win, and he should not be able to win.
In the first letter, the agent revealed details about the effects of sanctions, “Sanctions against Russia have reached a level that has never been seen before in history. The only thing that GDP is equivalent to is the cost of the war. With such sanctions, today’s Russia does not have a chance.” The agent also discussed the other operations that were debated within the military as those plans received extensive push back due to the country’s new financial hardships.
The Ministry of Defense was expecting an easy takeover and not expecting a significant loss of resources. At the time of the letter, the Russian military was struggling with capturing strategic and pro-Russian cities, including Kherson and Kharkov, with the agent writing, “Everything is much worse,” to Oschekin about the set back the military experienced. While continuing the discussion of the first phase of the invasion, Russia’s “Plan of Victory” included pressuring Zelensky into outwardly signing a soft peace treaty. In this soft treaty, he would be forced to recognize Crimea as Russia and the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk as Russian territory. This “peace treaty” would demilitarize Ukraine and ban functioning special service and counterintelligence agencies in Ukraine, leaving the country vulnerable.
As described in the letter, the cost of Putin’s war is nearly equivalent to his country’s GDP. The Kremlin predicted there would be significant economic loss and damage. However, the extent of international sanctions was not anticipated and now, Russia is facing a harsher blow to the economy than predicted. Russia’s fake peace treaty and plans to demilitarize Ukraine came to a halt when the takeover posed more challenging than expected. The second letter to Osechkin goes into detail about the discussions of the Kremlin’s reaction to the first few days of the war.
Look out for part two.
Please note: Quotes used are translated from Russian into English.