He added: “I’m not expecting anything like an explosion or revolution to happen right now. But it’s gaining potential.
“The vast majority of the population are not proponents of the opposition.
“Those who were previously loyal to Putin [however], they don’t like this crackdown. They’re becoming more and more, you know, ‘unloyal.'”
The former speechwriter also suggested the level of discontent could have played a role in Navalny’s death – a death the Kremlin is claiming to have had no role in.
The international community, however, blamed Putin for the politician’s death and US President Joe Biden unveiled a new set of sanctions against Russia in response.
Gallyamov argued the death of Navalny could have served as a warning to opposition leaders seeking to challenge Putin in March.
He added: “This discontent is growing, and it’s big. The only thing you can do is chop off the heads of all the opposition leaders so that at least this discontent … [is] unstructured.”
While other candidates are being allowed to run, Putin is already the anticipated winner of March’s election – after which he could seek another two terms in office thanks to constitutional changes made during his latest administration.
