Igor Girkin, the former Russian commander turned military blogger, has said that Russia would not survive another presidential term by Vladimir Putin.
Girkin, also known as Strelkov, played a key part in the war in Ukraine's Donbas region after 2014, and while he backs Putin's full-scale invasion, he has repeatedly condemned how Moscow has fought the conflict on his Telegram channel.
In a post on Tuesday, Girkin changed tack from criticizing Putin's military decisions to turning to the issue of his leadership of the country in general.
"History has no subjunctive mood," his post read, suggesting that there is no uncertainty or doubt about the time that has passed since Putin first took power in 2000.
"For 23 years, a nonentity was at the head of the country, who managed to 'pull the wool over the eyes' of a significant part of the population," Girkin wrote. Now he "is the last island of legitimacy and stability of the state."
He then warned of what might happen in the event that Putin stands again for president in 2024.
The Russian constitution previously only allowed for two consecutive four-year presidential terms. However, following constitutional changes approved by Russia's parliament, the Duma, Putin can stand for two more six-year terms, potentially meaning that he could retain power until 2036.
But Girkin warned: "The country will not survive another six years of power of this useless coward. The only useful thing he could do 'before the curtain falls'…is to ensure a transfer of power to someone truly capable and responsible.
"Too bad it won't even cross his mind and if it does happen, then we have already seen many times before his 'ability to choose associates.'"
In 2008, Dmitry Medvedev took over from Putin as president before the latter resumed the role in 2012.
Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment on Girkin's latest criticism.
Last week, Girkin wrote on Telegram that the aftermath of the mutiny staged by the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, could see Putin's inner circle move against him and his removal as president.
Girkin said the mutiny in which Wagner seized military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and advanced on Moscow, had redistributed power among the Russian elite, weakening Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Moscow regional governor Andrei Vorobyov and Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
He also said that Putin's inner circle is looking to sabotage Moscow's war effort to undermine the president and oust him in favor of one of its own members, such as Prigozhin or Putin's First Deputy Chief of Staff, Sergey Kiriyenko.
However, the Institute for the Study of War said Girkin's claims aim to decrease support for a ceasefire in Ukraine while trying to portray Prigozhin as a threat to Putin's regime.
Spurring a tougher Kremlin response to Prigozhin and discouraging efforts to freeze the front in Ukraine, would play into Girkin's agenda, the ISW added.
