Sergei Shoigu, 66, is “out of the game,” according to Leonid Nevzlin, 62, an opponent of Vladimir Putin, and is presently “in critical care, hooked to the equipment.”
He further claimed that 20 defence ministry generals had been imprisoned as part of a £7.6 billion “corruption” investigation that has resulted in the arrest of 150 Federal Security Service (FSB) personnel.
The exiled former co-owner of oil giant Yukos ascribed the unusual accusations to unnamed Moscow sources. It has not been confirmed independently.
One argument is that possible coup plotters are being imprisoned or otherwise rendered incompetent.
Mr Nevzlin claimed on Facebook, “Shoigu is out of the game, and if he lives, he may become crippled.”
“He suffered a huge heart attack all of a sudden.”
“He’s in intensive care, hooked up to machines.”
“According to rumour, the heart attack could not have occurred due to natural causes.”
Shoigu’s heart issues have already been rumoured, as have accusations that he was out of sight because Putin ordered him to work from a distant nuclear bunker in the Urals.
According to rumours, Putin has withdrawn from the assault after Kremlin soldiers sustained serious losses.
Shoigu was seen on April 13 on a video conference with Putin and other ministers about the development of the Arctic.
He wore a suit and took notes, evidently writing down Putin’s instructions.
He was not heard speaking.
However, there have been questions before about whether canned footage is sometimes used in these sessions when Putin is seen meeting remotely with ministers.
He stated that the arrested generals were all from “headquarters” rather than from the field in Ukraine, but provided no evidence of such widespread imprisonment during the Ukrainian war.
Nevzlin stated: “Everything is apparent here: utter misappropriation of cash for the preparation of [taking over Ukraine’s government].
“Since 2014, about $10 billion (USD) budgeted by Putin for blitzkrieg preparations has been stolen.”
According to Nevzlin, a criminal investigation is also ongoing against long-serving ex-deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich, 50.
He continued, saying: “He will be called to testify against his coworkers and friends.
“According to FSB sources, if he does not cooperate with the inquiry, he will be moved to either the Matrosskaya Tishina or Lefortovo pre-trial detention centres.”
He also stated that the guy who “created Putinism,” ideologist Vladislav Surkov, has been imprisoned and is being held under house arrest in Russia.
Reports of this surfaced yesterday, and were seen as Putin turning on his inner circle in the midst of a major crisis and serious divisions inside the Kremlin.
“Surkov is under home arrest,” he stated. This is the same instance when 20 generals were apprehended.”
