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Chaos Inside the Kremlin: Russia’s War in Ukraine Fuels Elite Infighting
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Russia’s prolonged invasion of Ukraine has led to mounting dysfunction within the country’s political system, triggering power struggles among elite factions and weakening traditional chains of command, Important Stories reported, citing sources close to the Kremlin.
The publication highlights that, in the fourth year of the war, the concentration of power among security services has disrupted internal political coordination.
Officials described the current environment as chaotic, with state institutions competing for diminishing resources and political influence.
“This is a systemic battle for any available resources. It’s clear there are far fewer of them now,” one source working within the Kremlin told Important Stories.
According to the report, Russia’s powerful security services are increasingly operating independently of both the government and the domestic policy bloc of the Presidential Administration.
A lawmaker from the ruling United Russia party told Important Stories that political decisions are now made solely through a lens of wartime patriotism, with little coordination across institutions.
A serving officer from the Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed that since the beginning of the war, surveillance tools have been redirected toward monitoring government bodies and other state institutions, rather than traditional targets such as the opposition.
“There used to be unity against common enemies — now they’re fighting each other,” a Kremlin-linked source said.
One of the key mechanisms for political pressure—the designation of “foreign agents”—is reportedly no longer fully controlled by the Presidential Administration.
According to Important Stories, the label is now being applied not only to opposition figures, but also to business leaders and even pro-government commentators. In one case, a blogger who had praised Kremlin official Sergey Kiriyenko was added to the register.
Kiriyenko, who has overseen domestic political strategy for nearly a decade as First Deputy Chief of Staff, has reportedly come under pressure himself. Important Stories cited Kremlin sources saying that he is not always informed of the arrests of senior officials, including those appointed under his authority.
The publication noted that 155 government officials have been detained in 2025 alone, including mayors and deputy governors. Large-scale asset seizures have also become common. Since the war began, prosecutors have confiscated over 4.5 trillion rubles in assets (approximately $50 billion), targeting individuals with close ties to state power.
Sources also linked the growing tensions to Kiriyenko’s reported ties to Yuri Kovalchuk, a key shareholder in Bank Rossiya and one of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies. Other factions within the Russian elite—particularly those from the security apparatus—allegedly view Kovalchuk as a rival in the broader competition for influence over Kremlin decision-making.
“The longer the war drags on and the more it impacts the Russian economy, the sharper the internal contradictions become,” one source told Important Stories.
Despite the instability, the system continues to function, driven largely by bureaucratic inertia. As one former Kremlin official put it, the government could potentially “keep running on fumes” for years before any structural collapse.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service reported that Russian companies had entered “survival mode,” citing rising payment delays, falling demand, and widespread liquidity issues. Nearly 40% of businesses were experiencing overdue payments, while a majority had begun cutting administrative and operational expenses.
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