Ukrainian tanks roll across the Kherson Oblast,
pushing Russian forces back to Crimea. Artillery shells rain down from the sky. Missiles and
drones roar overhead. Troops slaughter one another as Ukraine reclaims what is rightfully
theirs. The Russians continue to fall back, but there is nowhere left to go. Battalion
after battalion surrenders. Ukraine's blue and yellow flag rises in Crimea for
the first time in almost ten years. Vladimir Putin stares at the satellite feed of
his troops surrendering. He can’t believe what is happening. This should have been easy, he thinks.
Russia’s military was massive; its intelligence officers claimed that most of Ukraine wanted to
rejoin mother Russia. Now he has lost all of the territory claimed in the initial invasion. Putin
grabs the glass of Vodka resting on the table in front of him and hurls it across the room. It
shatters against the concrete wall of the bunker. “Gather the inner circle and tell them to
meet me at the Kremlin!” he shouts at the general on the far end of the table. “We need to
get ahead of this thing before it’s too late.” Konstantin checks the incoming feed from
news outlets across the world. He runs a proxy server in his Moscow apartment to hide
his IP from the Russian authorities. He has been monitoring the war in Ukraine since
it started, and now it looks like Russia has finally been defeated. From the beginning,
he and an underground network of rebels have been disseminating information to the general
public about the truth of the war. They have exposed Putin’s lies and led protests against
the evil dictator and his administration. Thus far, the Rebels have had very little
success. The Kremlin controls all media outlets in the country. Putin surrounds himself
with people who he can trust and who tell him exactly what he wants to hear. He has separated
power in the government in a way that ensures no other entity can gain enough influence to
depose him. But the people are angry. They have given so much for this senseless war,
and all the Kremlin has given in return is pain and suffering. Food is hard to come by;
people are being worked to death, and still, Vladamir Putin can’t think of anything
else besides his own ambitions. Konstantin opens a coded chat on the Dark Web. He sends a message to rebels
across Russia: “it is time.” The Elites of Russia gather in secret. They
never thought it’d come to this. They truly believed Putin could be controlled, but this
is clearly no longer the case. They told him that Russia must win the war or he would have to
step down from power, and now that Crimea is lost, Putin has to go. This group of individuals
controls almost all of the independent wealth in the country. Their families have pulled the
strings from behind the scenes for centuries. They are not about to let Vladamir Putin ruin
everything they’ve worked so hard to create. Even though Putin refuses to admit it,
Russia is weak. Its military is in shambles, protests are breaking out around the nation,
and the treasury is running dry. The Elites of Russia sit around an old wooden
table to discuss their next move; the smoke of cigars fills the dimly lit room.
“It’s been decided then,” a large man sitting at the head of the table says to those gathered.
“We will have Vladimir step down and replace him with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. He will
negotiate the reduction of sanctions placed on our country by the west, and we can slowly
repair the damage that the President has done.” The other members of the Elite nod their heads in
approval. They discuss the best course of action to replace Putin. They will first try to convince
him to step down willingly. If that doesn’t work, they will make sure that the current
President of Russia has an accident. Vladimir Putin’s motorcade speeds towards the
Kremlin. A group of very powerful people have informed him that he has a meeting with Prime
Minister Mishustin as soon as he arrives. As the vehicle proceeds down the street, it’s stopped
by a group of protestors blocking the way. They shout obscenities at Putin’s motorcade. Some
throw glass bottles against the bulletproof windows as others hold up picket signs demanding
Putin resign and free Russia from his death grip. “Where is the Rosgvardiya?” Putin
screams from the back of the car. The driver looks back at the angry dictator in
the rearview mirror. “They are on their way, sir. It should only be a few more minutes.” “No!” Putin shrieks. “I want these dissidents
dealt with now. Run them over!” The driver pauses for a moment. He opens his mouth
to object, but before he can say anything, gunshots fill the air. The National Guard
has arrived and is using lethal force to disband the protesters. Russian civilians
are torn to pieces by the soldiers’ bullets; Putin orders the man at the wheel to drive over
the wounded and fallen. He has no choice. The car bounces up and down as the wheels roll over
the bodies of citizens lying in the street. Konstantin watches in horror as innocent
civilians are butchered at the Moscow protests. It’s clear that Vladamir Putin and the current
regime will never give up their power willingly. The rebels need to escalate their tactics.
Konstantin pulls out his cell phone and makes the call he hoped would never come. He presses
the number for a rebel codenamed Wolf. “Order the printing of the recruitment pamphlets,” Konstantin
says into the receiver. “We’re going to war.” Vladimir Putin bursts into his office to
find Prime Minister Mishustin sitting at his desk. “What do you think you’re doing?” Putin
hisses. Mishustin rises from the chair. “Listen, Vladamir,” he says. “Our wealthy friends
have decided that it is time I take over. They have already deposited all the money
you could ever need in a secure account. All you have to do is step down and allow
us to move the country in a new direction.” Vladimir Putin suppresses the rage welling
up inside of him. “And if I refuse?” Putin asks. Mishustin lets out a sigh. “You know
how influential the Elites are. They have already ensured that you will give up your
power one way or another.” He pauses for a moment. “Even if that means the guards
need to force you out of the Kremlin.” Putin shakes his head and smiles at the
Prime Minister, “I understand.” He walks to the window and looks out at the square
below. Mishustin is relieved. He honestly thought the armed guards waiting outside
might need to be called in to remove the current President of Russia. They had already
been paid off, and the transition of power was going to happen either way. Mishustin is
just glad it didn’t have to get bloody. “There’s just one thing,” Putin
says. He turns to face Mishustin, who is still standing behind his desk. “Those
guards the Elites paid off; I already had them killed. I would say tell your masters that
they will not be rid of me that easily, but you won’t live long enough to give them
the message.” Vladimir Putin pulls out a gun from beneath his jacket, aims it at the former
Prime Minister, and fires. Blood sprays across the office as the back of Mishustin’s head
explodes outwards from the exiting bullet. Putin holsters the pistol, walks over to his
desk, and picks up the phone. “Get me the heads of the GRU. We have enemies of the State
to deal with.” Russia’s Civil War has begun. Rebel groups start to rise up across the country.
They take control of local governments in smaller towns. The cities are harder to secure as they
have a large military presence in them. It’s here that the Rebels fight bloody battles
that seem unwinnable. Firearms used to be heavily regulated in Russia for decades,
but after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it became easier for people to get their
hands on weapons. The government was so focused on not losing the war that they couldn’t
see what was happening within their own country. The rebels take control of military vehicles
that have been abandoned as forces are recalled to Moscow to protect the current regime and put
down any uprisings in the city. Konstantin meets with other Rebel leaders in a damp basement.
No one here is of elite status or holds any power in the government; they are all just
regular people. But they are also the voice of Russia. They speak out for everyone who has
been crushed under Putin’s boot or suffered as the mad dictator tried to create a new Russian
Empire. He has no regard for the well-being of Russia’s people, and now they will make him
pay dearly for the way they’ve been treated. Konstantin points to a series of lines on
the maps. “We need to take the railways,” he says. “If we control the rail system, we
control the movement of resources across the country. We can leverage them to force
the government to surrender.” The other rebel leaders standing around the table nod in
approval. Their numbers are growing every day, but Putin’s military still holds all of
the major cities. Most of Putin’s men feel it’s their duty to follow orders and
protect Russia from external and internal threats. Putin has constructed a narrative
that the West is funding the rebel cause. He claims the Rebels are trying to destroy
the Russian way of life from within. Many have deserted Putin’s military to join
the Rebels, but the misinformation campaign has been successful, and the ranks of the
Russian army have slowly begun to grow as the population is force-fed pro-Putin propaganda.
However, the rebels have launched their own information campaign, and free-thinkers
across the country are joining the cause. The plan of the Elites has failed. Mishustin
is dead. “So, you understand why we called you here then?” the man smoking a cigar says.
There is silence in the room. The Elites of Russia look at the Chef. Yevgeny Prigozhin
swirls the liquid in his glass around as he contemplates the offer. The Elites of
Russia want to pay the Wagner Group to wage war against Vladamir Putin. For years
Wagner has done whatever Putin has ordered, but this group of Elites has made
Prigozhin an offer he can’t refuse. The Wagner Group are mercenaries for
hire. Yevgeny Prigozhin has controlled the organization from the shadows since 2014. He
has become incredibly close with Vladamir Putin, but only out of necessity. His sights are set on
becoming part of the upper echelon of the Russian government, and now the Elites of the country
are offering him a chance to reach the top. It will be incredibly dangerous to turn against
Putin, but the reward far outweighs the risks. “Very well,” Prigozhin says. “I will have my men
deal with Putin and his forces. But in return, I want to rule.” There is silence in
the chamber. The Elites look uneasily at one another. “Very well,” the
man sitting at the head of the table responds. “If you remove Putin
from power, you can take his spot.” Yevgeny Prigozhin smiles. He rises from the
table and proceeds to walk out of the room. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he
says over his shoulder before the door closes behind him. “You can’t be serious,”
one of the Elites exclaims. “Prigozhin is a means to an end,” the man at the head of
the table says after taking a few puffs of his cigar. “He will not live long
enough to see the power he desires.” Vladimir Putin and his private security force
run through the halls of the Kremlin. A bullet strikes the agent bringing up the rear. He
falls to the ground but continues to fire at the Wagner Group soldiers who are in pursuit.
Putin was in a meeting with Yevgeny Prigozhin to confront him about his mercenaries taking
offensive positions around Novgorod. Suddenly, a group of Wagner men burst into the room and
began firing. Putin dove under his desk while a battle erupted in his office. The mercenaries
were gunned down by Putin’s security force, but Prigozhin escaped. Now the President of Russia is
just trying to make it out of the Kremlin alive. Putin’s security force calls for backup. Members
of the GRU and Russian Armed Forces move into position. The mercenaries know they are in big
trouble. The only way they are going to get out of the Kremlin alive is if they capture Putin. The
dictator and his men scramble out the back door of the building. The mercenaries emerge a few moments
later. Waiting for them is an entire battalion of soldiers. They open fire at the mercenaries,
mowing them down on the steps of the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin cowers in an undisclosed bunker.
He is afraid to leave its safety out of fear for his life. The Civil War that has erupted in
Russia has not been going well. Many factions have appeared since the war in Ukraine was lost.
Putin is still technically the leader of Russia, but his rule is anything but secure. In recent
weeks rebel forces have assassinated some of his top lieutenants. They now control large
parts of the Trans-Siberian Railway and other major rail routes across the country. The
Wagner Group, who Putin can only assume is being controlled by the Elites that tried to
replace him with Mikhail Mishustin, have taken Novgorod and appear to have their sights set
on St. Petersburg before they siege Moscow. Ethnic groups that have been oppressed by
Russia for decades see the Civil War as an opportunity to reclaim their homelands.
The Chechens, Chuvash, and Buryats have declared independence from Russia and claim to
be their own sovereign nations. Putin’s empire is fracturing all around him. He still controls
the largest military force in the country, but wherever his soldiers are sent, there seems
to be opposition. Putin thinks that if only he hadn’t wasted so much money, resources,
and assets in his invasion of Ukraine, maybe he could have crushed his rivals and
remained in absolute control of the country. And the bad news just keeps coming. Reports that
Chinese forces are starting to invade eastern Russia reach Putin in his bunker. Originally,
Vladimir Putin had called on his allies in the People's Republic of China to aid him in his fight
to maintain control of the nation. President Xi Jinping told Putin he would send supplies and men
to secure key positions in the eastern part of Russia. This was a lie. As Putin waited for aid
that would never come, Chinese forces began to mobilize with their sites set on capturing areas
that contained large amounts of natural resources. Konstantin peers down the scope of his
sniper rifle. The rebels received intel that one of Putin’s top generals has a
meeting with the mad dictator today. If they can track the general’s movements, they
can finally determine the location of the so-called President. Most of the Russian
people don’t recognize Putin’s authority anymore. The Rebellions numbers have grown into
the tens of millions. Not everyone is armed, but the unified civilian population
of Russia holds a lot of power. Workers who no longer want to answer to Putin’s
government have begun manufacturing weapons and supplies for the rebel cause. Farmers
are harvesting crops and hiding them so that the Russian military runs out of food.
The unification of the Russian people who have suffered for so long under Vladamir Putin’s
brutal reign poses the biggest threat to the President's success in this Civil War. The Elites
of Russia have secured major cities using the Wagner Group and other hired mercenaries,
but without the support of the masses, it’s unclear if they will be able to
install the government they desire. The scariest thought for both the Elites of
Russia and Vladamir Putin is that the Rebels fight for democracy. The people
want a voice in their government, and they know that if either Putin or the
Elites win this Civil War, the status quo will be maintained. The government will be controlled
by a corrupt collective of individuals who only care about their own interests. Nothing is more
terrifying for the other factions than the Rebels winning and installing a democratic government
reminiscent of their sworn enemies in the west. This is the one thing they’ve been fighting
against since the rise of the Soviet Union. Konstantin watches as the target steps out of
the car. The general looks around uneasily. He is flanked by two GRU soldiers. This must
be the location, Konstantin thinks. He moves to the next window of the abandoned apartment
building he is hiding in to get a better look at where the group goes. They proceed down
the block and stop at a rundown structure. Rebel intel suggests that this used to be an old
KGB office. There is likely a bunker beneath it in case a nuclear attack was ever launched during
the Cold War. This must be where Putin is hiding. Konstantin knows he can take the shot now and
eliminate a top general, or he can call in for backup, and hopefully, the rebels can bring Putin
to justice. He takes a deep breath and holds it. The general is in his crosshairs. He sighs the
air out of his lungs, lowers the sniper, and picks up his cell phone. He sends a text to the leaders
of the Moscow Rebels to converge on his location. This is a big risk. It could be a trap laid
by Putin and his allies to draw out the rebel cell. And if the President isn’t in the
building, this could all be for nothing. Konstantin packs up his gear and heads down
to ground level. In a matter of minutes, rebel forces will arrive, and then it
will be clear if this was all worth it. The Wagner Group is facing its own problems
in St. Petersburg. Loyalists to Putin have barricaded themselves in the city. Urban
warfare is costing the lives of thousands of mercenaries and soldiers. The general populace
is being targeted by terror attacks as the Wagner Group tries to get them to turn on the Russian
Army. This tactic has left tens of thousands of civilians dead in St. Petersburg's streets.
Many Russian civilians have fled the country seeking asylum in Finland and Poland. In
other parts of the nation, the Russian people are crossing whatever border is closest
to try and escape the chaos of the Civil War. There is a refugee crisis on a scale of which
the world has never seen before. And the most astonishing part is that Ukraine is offering to
aid Russians who are fleeing the conflict. The war between Russia and Ukraine was horrible. Yet,
people show signs of great compassion even in the darkest of hours. Ukrainian is still recovering
from the war, but with the help of the United Nations and various non-profits, it has been
rebuilding its infrastructure. The Ukrainian government has taken in Russian refugees and
helped them reach other nations offering asylum. The Russian Civil War is bloody and brutal.
The Russian people are suffering at the hands of various factions trying to fill
the power vacuum. The rest of the world watches as Russia consumes itself. Everyone
hopes that when the dust finally settles, Russia will be controlled by the people. The
refugees can then return home to help build a better nation, but this all hinges
on Vladamir Putin being removed from power and the government staying out of
the hands of the power-hungry Elites. “Give me a status report!” shouts Putin in his
underground bunker. The general takes off his hat and holds it by his side. “The Wagner Group
is using terrorist tactics to try and secure St. Petersburg.” the general replies. This comes
as no surprise to anyone. Putin encouraged such behavior when he used the mercenary
group during his invasion of Ukraine and in other parts of the world where Russian
interests were being threatened. However, never in his wildest dreams did he think
the Wagner Group would turn against him. The general tells Putin that the Russian
Army is running out of weapons, supplies, and soldiers. The railways have been
secured by Rebels and are no longer running into Moscow. The Elites are gaining
support in the middle of the country. And the ethnic minorities have set up their
own governments, which have fortified their borders with militias and anything
that the Russian military left behind. Vladimir Putin can’t believe what he’s hearing. It
seems as if he will lose the Civil War. However, in the back of his mind, the seed of destruction
has begun to grow. If he can’t have Russia, no one can. “Bring me the Cheget,” Putin
hisses. The general freezes. “You can’t be serious,” he asks. Putin looks at him with a
fire burning in his eyes. “If you won’t bring me the nuclear launch codes, I will relieve you of
duty and have someone else do it!” Putin screams. The general looks around at the other soldiers in
the room. They are loyal to Putin and will kill him if he tries to stop the psychotic dictator.
The general left the black briefcase in the car with one of his most trusted advisors. He
closes his eyes and shakes his head. “God forgive me,” he whispers as he heads towards
the door of the bunker to retrieve the Cheget. As the general pulls the door towards him, a
trip wire is tightened on the other side. An explosive detonates, blowing the door inwards,
ripping the general’s body apart in the process. There is shouting as a group of Rebels wearing
gas masks enter the bunker. Putin’s guards try to pick themselves up off the ground and secure
their leader, but the Rebels unload round after round into anything that moves. Blood sprays
across the concrete walls, muzzle flashes ignite like firecrackers, the screams of Putin’s
soldiers cut through the smoke. Then all is quiet. The rebel fighters check around the
bunker for any signs of movement. “Over here!” one of them yells.
The smoke has begun to dissipate. Konstantin takes off his gas mask and makes his
way to the back of the bunker, where one of the Rebels is standing. He looks down at the man
lying on the floor. Vladimir Putin stares up at him with terror in his eyes. Blood is seeping
from a wound in his chest. Konstantin pulls out his pistol and aims it at Putin’s head.
“For Russia,” he says and pulls the trigger. With Vladamir Putin dead, the rest of the Russian
government quickly crumbles. The rebels have secured most of Moscow, and anyone who was once
in Putin's inner circle has either been captured, killed, or fled the country. The Elites
of the nation still employ mercenaries to do their dirty work. Their goal is
to reclaim control of the government, but they do not have the
numbers to defeat the Rebels. The Rebels are now almost in complete control
of their country. The Civil War is not over, however. There are still battles to be won against
Putin loyalists and what remains of the Elite’s mercenary forces. The Russian people will continue
to suffer until these factions are dealt with. But the Rebels gain more and more support each day.
They express their desire to create a government for the people, a democracy where everyone has a
voice. This message reaches the rest of the world. Countries around the planet rally
behind the Rebels. They send them aid and weapons. Eventually, the fighting
is over. The ethnic groups who have claimed independence become sovereign nations. The
government in Moscow is restructured to resemble other democracies around the
world. Elections will be held for all positions in the new administration.
Rebel leaders ask for assistance in setting up this new system to ensure it is
fair and held accountable for its actions. The United Nations sends diplomats,
medical personnel, and peace forces to help the nation transition. The international
community rallies behind the Russian people, forcing China to return the territory
it seized during the Civil War. Perhaps this is an optimistic outcome for a
Russian Civil War. It is more likely than not that if Russia loses the war in Ukraine, there
will be a push to remove Putin from power. This could very well cause a popular uprising
and rebels such as Konstantin to take up arms against their own government. Then again,
Putin has structured Russia in a way in which power is divided so no single faction can
overthrow him. It’s a terrifying thought, but as we’ve already seen, Putin is not afraid
to turn Russia’s military against its own people. If a Civil War erupts in Russia, several
factions will compete for power. It will be a brutal and deadly battle. The
world can only hope that weapons of mass destruction don’t make an
appearance during the struggle. Now watch “What if Ukraine Wins the War.”
Or check out “What Caused The Korean War.”
