This is important: is a military coup being prepared in Russia? In Russia, several high-ranking military was write articles demanding that the war with Ukraine be cancelled. On February 3, 2022, Colonel M. M. Khodarenok (https://bit.ly/3skKTob) wrote an article (https://bit.ly/3gue0Q8) dedicated to the prospects of Putin's "Ukrainian blitzkrieg". Few quotes: ... Let's start with the last one. To assert that no one in Ukraine will defend the regime means, in practice, complete ignorance of the military-political situation and the mood of the broad masses of the people in the neighboring state. Moreover, the degree of hatred (which, as you know, is the most effective fuel for armed struggle) in the neighboring republic in relation to Moscow is frankly underestimated. No one will meet the Russian army with bread, salt and flowers in Ukraine .... ... And finally, about the duration of a hypothetical campaign. In the Russian expert community, several hours are called, sometimes even several tens of minutes. At the same time, it is somehow forgotten that we have already gone through all this. The phrase "take the city with one airborne regiment in two hours" has already become a classic of the genre. It is also worth recalling that the mighty Stalinist NKVD and the multi-million Soviet army fought the nationalist underground in Western Ukraine for more than 10 years. And now there is an option that the whole of Ukraine can easily go into the partisans. In addition, these formations can easily begin to operate already on the territory of Russia .... .... In general, there will be no Ukrainian blitzkrieg. The statements of some experts such as The Russian army will defeat most of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 30-40 minutes, Russia is able to defeat Ukraine in 10 minutes in the event of a full-scale war, Russia will defeat Ukraine in eight minutes have no serious grounds. And finally, the most important thing. An armed conflict with Ukraine is currently fundamentally not in Russia's national interests. Therefore, it is best for some overexcited Russian experts to forget about their hatred fantasies. And in order to prevent further reputational losses, never remember again. A few days earlier, the Chairman of the All-Russian Officers' Assembly, Colonel General Ivashov, wrote an Appeal to the President and citizens of the Russian Federation, which he called "The Eve of War" (https://bit.ly/3osRuvz). Few quotes: Today humanity lives in anticipation of war. And war is the inevitable loss of life, destruction, suffering of large masses of people, the destruction of the usual way of life, the violation of the vital systems of states and peoples. A big war is a huge tragedy, someone's serious crime. It so happened that Russia was at the center of this impending catastrophe. And, perhaps, this is the first time in its history. Previously, Russia (USSR) waged forced (just) wars, and, as a rule, when there was no other way out, when the vital interests of the state and society were threatened. And what threatens the existence of Russia itself today, and are there such threats? It can be argued that there is indeed a threat - the country is on the verge of completing its history. All vital areas, including demography, are steadily degrading, and the rate of population extinction is breaking world records. And degradation is systemic in nature, and in any complex system, the destruction of one of the elements can lead to the collapse of the entire system. And this, in our opinion, is the main threat to the Russian Federation. But this is a threat of an internal nature, emanating from the model of the state, the quality of power and the state of society. And the reasons for its formation are internal: the unviability of the state model, the complete incapacity and lack of professionalism of the system of power and administration, the passivity and disorganization of society. In this state, any country does not live long. As for external threats, they are certainly present. But, according to our expert assessment, they are not currently critical, directly threatening the existence of Russian statehood, its vital interests. On the whole, strategic stability is maintained, nuclear weapons are under reliable control, NATO forces are not building up, and they are not showing threatening activity. Therefore, the situation that is being whipped up around Ukraine is, first of all, artificial, mercenary in nature for some internal forces, including the Russian Federation. As a result of the collapse of the USSR, in which Russia (Yeltsin) took a decisive part, Ukraine became an independent state, a member of the UN, and in accordance with Art. 51 of the UN Charter has the right to individual and collective defence. The use of military force against Ukraine, firstly, will call into question the existence of Russia itself as a state; secondly, it will forever make Russians and Ukrainians mortal enemies. Thirdly, there will be thousands (tens of thousands) of dead young, healthy children on one side and on the other, which will certainly affect the future demographic situation in our dying countries. On the battlefield, if this happens, Russian troops will face not only Ukrainian military personnel, among whom there will be many Russian guys, but also military personnel and equipment from many NATO countries, and the member states of the alliance will be obliged to declare war to Russia. President of the Republic of Turkey Erdogan has clearly stated which side Turkey will fight on. And it can be assumed that two Turkish field armies and a fleet will be ordered to "liberate" the Crimea and Sevastopol and possibly invade the Caucasus. In addition, Russia will definitely be included in the category of countries that threaten peace and international security, will be subject to the heaviest sanctions, will turn into a pariah of the world community, and will probably be deprived of the status of an independent state. The president and the government, the Ministry of Defense cannot fail to understand such consequences, they are not so stupid.