While the crisis in the Middle East may have turned attention away from his invasion of Ukraine, focus continues to remain on the actions, behaviour, and survival of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. And it now appears cracks are forming in the dictator’s government after one of his attack dogs turned on Putin.

Lawyer Ilya Remeslo led a fierce campaign against opposition Alexei Navalny, allegedly at Putin’s insistence. He has in the past testified for the prosecution in 2022 against Navalny after which the opposition leader was sent to a Siberian penal colony where he would later die. Remeslo has also in the past expressed support for Putin’s invasion of Ukraineand for years has gone after critics of the regime to protect the Russian leader.

However, author Mark Galeotti has suggested that Remeslo’s decision to turn against Putin is symbolic of a potential erosion of his authority and a potential growing paranoia about plots within his administration.

In an opinion piece for the i entitled “Putin’s attack dog has turned on him – this could be the beginning of the end”, Mr Galeotti said: “Ultimately, it may well be that this was just sour grapes….Remeslo himself is not that important. However, his case – and the way even the government press has not been able completely to ignore it – highlights the growing sense that the foundations of the regime are being eroded.”

He also claimed that someone recently retired from Putin’s administration told hm: “The reason anyone is paying attention to Remeslo is that they are worried, and so they begin to see plots on every side.

“None of it is probably true, if people think the ship is sinking, they’ll still look for lifeboats.”

Concern about the integrity of Putin’s authority came after Remeslo’s 90,000 followers on Telegram received an update with the title ‘Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin’.

In his post, he criticised Putin for his handling of the Russian economy and Ukraine war. He went onto conclude that Putin was “not a legitimate President”. He added: “Vladimir Putin must resign and be brought to trial as a war criminal and a thief.”

Just a few days later, after doubling down on his earlier criticism of Putin, Remeslo allegedly admitted himself to Psychiatric Hospital No3. His reasons for doing so are not yet known, but it is another blow to Putin as his war against Ukraine enters its fifth year.

According to some experts, Remeslo’s act of rebellion is a sign of a major divide within Putin’s administration and governance.

Speaking to the Daily Express US, Russian sociologist and political analyst Igor Eidman said his “mutiny” was evidence of that divide, specifically within the ruling class.

He said: “This is a conspiracy by a significant portion of the Russian elite, who are interested in accepting Trump’s offer to freeze the war. This group is extremely dissatisfied with Putin’s effectively rejecting Trump’s extended hand.”

Whether or not there is divide within the ruling class at the head of Russian politics, Putin seems unassailable with his government and propagandists continuing to send threats to the West at a time when fears about World War 3 are at an all time high.

This includes Vladimir Solovyov who erupted into a major rant on his show, Sunday Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, where he threatened England.

He said: “When you give an example of England, or our threats to bomb factories, I always say let’s borrow the best ideas from Iran and act through proxies.

“We currently have these kinds of proxies, like Iran itself. We don’t have to bang these factories ourselves; it would be too provocative. It’s war, after all. So let’s pretend, like you say, with tankers. Let our proxies carry out the strikes.”