Vladimir Putin's desperate reign could soon be ended could by his own shadowy generals and KGB officials, it has been claimed.The Russian President, who has survived many assassination attempts, is said to be "bracing for a coup" as powerful groups close to the despot are supposedly planning to remove him.According to various sources and media, the plan would be to oust Putin to end the bloody war in Ukraine as top individuals are increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress, The Mirror reports.Andrei Soldatov, a Russian security expert at The Center for European Policy Analysis, said: "This is the very first time the siloviki are putting distance between themselves and the president which opens up all sorts of possibilities."The Russian President has been bracing for a coup for some weeks as has faced fierce criticism over his 'special operation' in Ukraine and he has purged around 150 of his spies over the constant failures."The silovarchs are a particular group of the Russian power elite that rose to the top through business success in the 1990s. They are the meeting point of state and business power.Professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, Daniel Treisman coined the term in 2006 with it being used as an umbrella for a particular group of powerful elites.The word itself is a combination of siloviki and oligarch.
