Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrested his own military chief and the highly-respected head of the Russian Central Bank bank boss has quit.
The moves seem to indicate that the inner circle of the Kremlin leader is crumbling.
The head of the Russian Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, 58, has reportedly handed in her resignation amid claims she stood up to Putin over his illegal war in Ukraine.
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Meanwhile, General Roman Gavrilov, the deputy chief of Russia 's Rosgvardia unit, which was the spearhead of the first push into Ukrainian territory, has been arrested by the feared Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, The Daily Star reports.
The head of the Russia Bank's resignation is rumoured to have come after she privately argued with Putin over the devastation faced by Russians from Western sanctions he did not expect to be so serious.
The former economic adviser to the Kremlin leader told reportedly told Putin that his invasion of Ukraine has plunged the Russian economy into a “sewer”, adding: “I am an expert in a completely different field.”
The loss of Nabiullina, would pose a huge blow to Putin and signal a deepening crisis for the crisis-ridden Russian economy which has seen the rouble plunge and the massive loss of international financial links.
She is respected both in Moscow and the West as a highly competent technocrat, one of the best central bankers in the world who has guided Russia through relative stability even amid worsening relations with the West - but the war on Ukraine may have changed her line.
She showed her concern for the economic impact of Western sanctions in the wake of Putin’s invasion by wearing black and no brooch in a press conference after his invasion of Ukraine.
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