The former banking vice president defected to Ukraine and took up arms against Russia (Picture: E2W)

An underground Russian resistance movement calling for the removal of Vladimir Putin has said the despot can only be overthrown by force.

The group,known as Black Spark,claims it is building a clandestine anti-regime network inside Russia made up of ‘middle-class’ professionals,business figures,anti-war activists and fighters with combat experience.

The man behind the group has been revealed as Igor Volobuev,a Kremlin-linked banking vice-president who defected to Ukraine after Putin’s invasion and took up arms against Russia.

Volobuev,who works at Gazprombank,said ‘shifts’ were underway inside Russia and claimed members of Putin’s elite had lost faith in the Kremlin leader.

‘Everyone sees it. He cannot hit any target anymore,’ Volobuev said.

Black Spark’s manifesto openly calls for armed resistance against the Russian state.

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.‘Putin’s terror killed our belief in dialogue. We realised that under a dictatorship,justice is forced to stand with Molotov cocktails,’ the group said.Volobuev said the movement is ‘truly powerful’ (Picture: E2W)The movement denounces Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as ‘our shame and our crime’ and argues that simply removing Putin is not enough.‘The empire itself — Russia’s greatest curse — must collapse,’ the manifesto states.Despite its tiny social media footprint — fewer than 3,000 Telegram followers and around 1,500 on X — the organisation claims it already has influential members embedded across Russia,including within state-linked energy giant Gazprom.Volobuev insisted Black Spark was not an FSB trap or factional Kremlin project,adding: ‘I was given compelling evidence that this movement was truly powerful.‘I met people there whom I knew while living in Russia. Some are from the Gazprom system.’The ex-banker claimed members included engineers,IT specialists,lawyers,entrepreneurs and Russians of Ukrainian heritage who oppose Putin’s war.The group believes Putin won’t leave without force (Picture: Getty)Some participants had access to ‘various offices in Russia,including those in power.’Black Spark’s name itself is tied to their planned sabotage,according to Volobuev. The group sees its main goal as destroying the oil industry,which they call Russia’s ‘lifeblood’.Ukraine is known to cooperate with the group and is hitting key oil targets almost daily.Volobuev argued Putin’s war machine was exhausting Russia politically,economically and psychologically.‘People are fed up with Putin,’ he said. ‘He’s burning them in the fire of war.’Volobuev fled Russia in 2022 after resigning from Gazprombank,one of the Kremlin’s most important financial institutions.Born in Ukraine’s Sumy region,he later joined Ukrainian territorial defence units and has repeatedly appeared in Russian opposition media attacking Putin’s rule.‘There is no scenario where Putin simply leaves. He can only be overthrown by force.’Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .For more stories like this,check our news page.