Russia’s Security Council: external coup is a major threat

The scientific advisory board to the Security Council of Russia, a consultative body that handles issues of national security, is developing countermeasures against a "color revolution scenario." Kommersant reports that Security Council members believe that prevention of color revolutions has lately become a pertinent issue and will be discussed at the next meeting of the Russian Security Council.

Security Council member Andrey Manoilo has announced that risks of an externally organized coup d’etat are growing. He states that the recent killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down on February 27 just meters from the Kremlin, in combination with sanctions and economic decline may have triggered the “formation of a an aggressive political crowd which can be manipulated.” According to Manoilo, all color revolutions are controlled from the outside and are only masked as grassroots protests.

A source in the Kremlin has told Kommersant that the risk of color revolutions and countermeasures against them are among of the most important issues the Security Council is dealing with. According to the source, this topic is discussed in relation to Ukraine at practically every meeting of the Security Council of Russia.

The Security Council of the Russian Federation is a consultative body to the President of Russia. It handles issues of national security. The Security Council is chaired by the President of Russia and composed of several ministers and agency heads.

"Color revolutions" are anti-government civil resistance movements that developed during the early 2000s in post-Soviet countries and the Balkans. The term is also sometimes applied to uprisings in the Middle East. The term usually refers to street protests for free and fair elections which result in overthrowing those in power. Examples include Georgia’s Rose Revolution in 2003 and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004.

In November 2014, President Vladimir Putin announced that it is necessary to do everything possible to prevent color revolutions in Russia, as such events have tragic consequences. Color revolutions are listed among major threats to Russia's security in the country's military doctrine, updated in December 2014.