Borrowed Time: Vladimir Putin's Power Questioned as Russian Secret Service Search for Presidential Successor

Vladimir Putin ’s power was called into question after it was revealed that the Russian secret service is searching for a presidential successor for the despot, RadarOnline.com has learned.

In a surprising development to come as Putin prepares for next year’s Russian presidential election in March 2024, sources familiar with the matter claimed that the Russian Federal Security Service is working to “pinpoint” a potential successor.

According to Dr. Yuri Felshtinsky , the FSB started their search for Putin’s successor after the 70-year-old Russian tyrant allegedly orchestrated Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ’s plane crash death last week.

The Russian-American historian also claimed that Putin is living on “borrowed time” and that the “entire process” of Russia’s presidential election is controlled by the FSB.

"The FSB controls and rules Russia,” Dr. Felshtinsky explained to Daily Star this week. “The entire process of the Russian Presidential election and the election computer which calculates the vote is by law controlled by the FSB.”

"In 2021, Russia passed a law allowing remote voting,” he continued. “It might be good in most countries but not for Russia."

Dr. Felshtinsky also explained that the FSB’s involvement in the March 2024 presidential election "will lead to a situation where they have the ability to add the votes of the people who didn't come to vote in order to choose their favorite candidate.”

"My point is that it will be the FSB who choose the next president of Russia,” he said.

According to Dr. Felshtinsky, the first hint that the Russian FSB is lining up a new Putin successor would be if the role of prime minister is suddenly "changed to somebody else" like in 1999 when Putin suddenly replaced Boris Yeltsin .

"If we see suddenly that the Prime Minister is changed to somebody else, let's say Nikolai Patrushev , this will be an indication that they're making Patrushev the President,” he said.

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Putin is expected to officially announce his 2024 re-election bid sometime in the coming weeks.

The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation called on the 70-year-old leader to run again next year in July, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko recently endorsed Putin for six more years as Russia’s leader.

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“With a request to be nominated for a new term, the heads of the fund will turn to Putin, perhaps along with those who received effective assistance from the president,” a Russian news outlet reported last month.

“Look, there's sociological research being done all over the place in Russia,” Lukashenko added in July. “There is 74 percent confidence in Putin.”

“Do you doubt if he goes to the polls that he will win?” the Belarusian leader continued. “Don't doubt it if he maintains that level of trust.”

Other sources suggested Putin would be ousted from power before the 2024 election due to the Russian leader’s failure in Ukraine .