People on the inside perform an internal battle: between knowing that they are part of the evil deeds (war crimes, trials, executions after), being afraid of being murdered/purged by the regime in the meantime, and if it gets bad enough the balance tilts more toward being time to mutiny and get rid of the dictator before he kills us all. A lot of things have to line up to get enough of the apparatus together to remove someone like Putin.
Early into the Stalinification process, Putin's insiders will not turn on him, even when he starts to purge them. They'll hold out, hopeful that they're not next, scared, afraid to move; they'll tell themselves that they won't be next because they have been loyal, various rationalizations. You can target these insiders, it doesn't matter, they will not turn on him at this stage. A lot of people will have to die before we arrive at that juncture.
Putin's greatest single vulnerability is the FSB, they coup'd the Russian democracy (such that it was, being so embryonic) and installed him, they're among the best positioned to remove him. The question is, why should they. He's one of their own. The oligarchs could perhaps try purchasing his removal in conspiracy with the military or FSB, although it's very unlikely. The military can't be happy with its humiliation in Ukraine and the masses of dead soldiers, which will ultimately be for naught (Putin forced this outcome on them); and I would expect Putin to punish some prominent military leaders for the various failures, which never goes over well with the system broadly.
Early into the Stalinification process, Putin's insiders will not turn on him, even when he starts to purge them. They'll hold out, hopeful that they're not next, scared, afraid to move; they'll tell themselves that they won't be next because they have been loyal, various rationalizations. You can target these insiders, it doesn't matter, they will not turn on him at this stage. A lot of people will have to die before we arrive at that juncture.
Putin's greatest single vulnerability is the FSB, they coup'd the Russian democracy (such that it was, being so embryonic) and installed him, they're among the best positioned to remove him. The question is, why should they. He's one of their own. The oligarchs could perhaps try purchasing his removal in conspiracy with the military or FSB, although it's very unlikely. The military can't be happy with its humiliation in Ukraine and the masses of dead soldiers, which will ultimately be for naught (Putin forced this outcome on them); and I would expect Putin to punish some prominent military leaders for the various failures, which never goes over well with the system broadly.