Russian invasion of Ukraine are stirring new opposition to President Vladimir Putin, according to two local politicians who are taking a stand against him.
The lack of a quick victory, the inability to take Kyiv and now the successful counter-offensives by Ukraine while Russia has lost so many troops and so much equipment has generated anger and discontent that Putin's opponents are trying to harness, reports CNN.
Dmitry Palyuga, a local politician in St, Petersburg, said, "There is a point where both liberal groups of people and pro-war groups of people can have the same goal. The goal can be for Putin to resign."
Palyuga, a member of the Smolninskoye municipal council, appears in a court in St. Petersburg after he was charged with discrediting the Russian authorities.
While liberals like him had opposed the invasion of Ukraine on humanitarian and legal grounds, Palyuga told CNN he now saw an opening to get more support.
He said, "We wanted to target some people who supported Putin before and now they feel betrayed."
Ksenia Thorstrom, a municipal deputy or local councilor also in St. Petersburg, bought into that approach.
"One of the things that municipal deputy can do is making this public statement," she told CNN.
"We don't really have authority or power to do anything -- even on a local level, we are very much opposed by the "Yedinaya Rossiya". Even simple initiatives like bicycle lanes, for example, they are opposing us.
Thorstrom circulated her own version of Palyuga's petition to fellow lawmakers and now has dozens of signatures against Putin, said Ksenia.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
