A former Russian safety officer has given uncommon perception into President Vladimir Putin’s “pathological” concern for his life and his “distorted” grip on actuality.
Gleb Karakulov, who defected final yr, seems to be the highest-ranking intelligence official to go away because the begin of the Ukraine battle, The Guardian reviews.
He served as a captain within the Federal Safety Service, which protects Russia’s highest-ranking officers, and his duties included offering encrypted messages to Mr Putin.
Mr Karakulov stated the Russian president solely revered his personal life and the lives of his members of the family and went to nice lengths to guard himself.
Excessive security measures included touring through a secret practice community which “can’t be tracked on any info useful resource.” It is accomplished for stealth functions”, he stated.
Mr Putin lived in closely guarded “bunkers”, had an identical places of work in numerous cities – utilizing pretend motorcades as decoys – and demanded all his meals be inspected.
For the reason that coronavirus pandemic he had turn into so scared of the virus that he continues to stick to strict quarantine measures.
Workers who work in the identical room should bear a two-week quarantine, which strictly limits the quantity of people that work together with him.
This serves to additional isolate Mr. Putin from the surface world.
Mr Karakulov stated Mr Putin didn’t use a cell phone or the web however “solely receives info from his closest circle, which implies that he lives in an info vacuum”.
“Our president has misplaced contact with the world,” he stated.
“He has been dwelling in an info cocoon for the previous couple of years, spending most of his time in his residences, which the media very fittingly name bunkers.
“He’s pathologically afraid for his life.
“He surrounds himself with an impenetrable barrier of quarantines and an info vacuum.
“He solely values his personal life and the lives of his household and buddies.”
He stated the Russian president had “shut himself off from the world”.
“His tackle actuality has turn into distorted.”
Mr Karakulov estimated he had traveled on greater than 180 journeys with high officers.
He stated Mr Putin traveled with firefighters, meals testers and different engineers who “worship him in each manner”.
The interview was revealed by the File Middle, a Russian investigative journalism challenge based by Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch.
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