Yesterday, a forum of the Russian opposition was held in Lviv, which was held with the support of the Ukrainian authorities. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, spoke at the event. Podolyak emphasized the importance of such measures for the formation of a common vision of the future of Russia without Putin's regime.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, also made a positive comment about the forum. He noted that such meetings contribute to the approaching collapse of Putin's regime. Budanov expressed confidence that the efforts of the Russian opposition combined with international support can accelerate changes in Russia.
Podoliak said that the Russians who are opposed to Putin now have a chance to build "another country", but this can only be achieved with "a lot of Ukrainian blood". "Unfortunately, this can happen only as a result of military victory, tactical defeats of Russia on the battlefield. There will be no other way."
Podoliak said that these defeats could be "not on the entire front", but in the event of one major breakthrough of the Armed Forces.
"Unlike in 2022, when they were defeated in the Kharkiv site, they did not realize what was happening, they were ready to fight. Now, if such a breakthrough happens somewhere, they will not be ready to fight. Therefore, Russia has strengthened itself to prevent this from happening," he said.
That is, the adviser to the head of the OP believes that in the event of even a local defeat of the Russian army at the front, in the Russian Federation, where the society is now preparing for "inevitable victory", destructive processes will begin based on disappointment. It is possible that this is what Kyiv's strategic bet is now.
At the same time, Podolyak considers a change of power in the Russian Federation in 2024-2025 "inevitable".
According to him, in Russia "at one fine moment everything will collapse", despite the fact that "there is pessimism" about this in Ukraine and among the Russian opposition. "Two years and three months of war, it's hard, and it seems that Russia has rebuilt itself... Everything is wrong. The objective logic of the process is unchanged," said Podolyak.
He added that the "transformation of Russia" will begin in six months to a year or sooner, and the task of the Russian opposition is to "integrate" into this process.
Podoliak's predictions about the rapid "collapse of Putin's regime" are inspired by Prigozhin's mutiny last year, which, according to the adviser to the head of the OP, showed that "there is no power vertical of power in Russia that knows how to defend itself."
The councilor also asked those present "not to be offended and not to be angry because of the fact that there is strong anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine today. This is normal". "But if you do the work that needs to be done, we will help you," Podolyak added.
"You can build the type of Russia that Ukraine will one day be able to respect," said the advisor to the head of the OP.
At the same time, Podolyak spoke out against the "Fund to fight corruption" founded by Navalny, because his concept is "extremely dangerous". "It provides for the preservation of what is in Russia for many decades," said Bankova's representative.
