Russian President Vladimir Putin is 'persecuting and eliminating his old friends' while becoming 'even more fearful for his own life,' according to former Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko. Writing on X, Gerashchenko described the Kremlin elite as 'spiders in a jar' engaged in a 'war of all against all,' marked by unprecedented arrests of individuals once considered untouchable by Putin.
Unprecedented arrests target Putin's inner circle
Gerashchenko stated: 'The Kremlin is now like spiders in a jar. A war of all against all has started among the Kremlin elite, accompanied by unprecedented arrests of people who were close to Putin. They used to believe they were untouchable and that this status was guaranteed. Now everyone understands it is only a matter of time before they are targeted.'
Prominent cases include the detention of Ilya Traber, a St. Petersburg businessman personally acquainted with Putin since the 1990s. Traber was detained by the FSB in June 2026 on suspicion of involvement in the contract killing of St. Petersburg lawmaker Alexander Petrov. Gerashchenko noted: 'He was long considered completely untouchable.'
Purge hits defence ministry and regional elites
In July 2026, Konstantin Makhov, a former Rosaviatsiya official and top manager at companies owned by billionaire Arkady Rotenberg—another of Putin's closest childhood friends—was detained in Moscow with FSB special forces involvement. A large-scale purge has also affected the leadership of Russia's defence ministry. Gerashchenko said: 'As part of a large-scale campaign under the pretext of fighting corruption and embezzlement, nearly the entire inner circle of former defence minister Shoigu has ended up either in pretrial detention or under house arrest.'
Those affected include Ruslan Tsalikov, former first deputy defence minister, placed under house arrest or pretrial detention in March 2026 in a case involving embezzlement of billions of roubles. Timur Ivanov, former deputy defence minister responsible for military construction, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for accepting a bribe of more than 1.3 billion roubles ($16.6 million) and transferring funds abroad.
Further arrests targeted Yury Kuznetsov, head of the main personnel directorate of the ministry of defence; Vadim Shamarin, head of the main communications directorate of the Russian armed forces; and Ivan Popov, former commander of the 58th guards combined arms army, arrested in a case involving embezzlement of rolled metal intended for defensive structures.
Regional mayors and governors targeted
Sweeping actions have also struck regional elites. Aleksey Kopaygorodsky, former mayor of Sochi, was arrested on corruption charges and alleged land fraud. Ratmir Mavliyev, mayor of Ufa, was detained on charges of accepting a large bribe in the form of real estate. Former regional governors Aleksey Smirnov and Maksim Yegorov saw their resignations turn into criminal prosecutions.
Gerashchenko concluded: 'All of these prosecutions and arrests point to a redistribution of influence within the Kremlin, an intensifying struggle over resources, and the fact that the principle of the elite being untouchable no longer applies—even to Putin's longtime friends. Putin is persecuting and eliminating his old friends while becoming even more fearful for his own life. We'll see how it ends.'
The developments come as Russia continues its military campaign in Ukraine, now in its fifth year. The arrests reflect ongoing efforts to address alleged corruption in defence procurement and regional governance, sectors long tied to Putin's power structure.
