Russian dictator Putin did not attend proposed peace talks in Istanbul with President Zelenskyy, in the wake of claims his obsession with personal security has him confined to the Kremlin. The British Mirror reports that he fears assassination by Ukrainian kill squads, anti‑Kremlin plotters or even conspirators within his own circle.
In recent months the dictator has tightened security to an extreme. For Victory Day commemorations he inspected Red Square parades under heavy guard, while central Moscow was sealed off with stringent restrictions. “Security of the Russian dictator is always being bolstered,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, insisting that every measure is taken to prevent any threat.
Former commander of Britain’s Joint Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, Colonel Hamish de Bretton‑Gordon, told the Mirror that the dictator is “a dead man walking,” and that his war in Ukraine will hasten his demise. He argued that US policy is shifting towards conciliation with Ukraine as former US president Trump realises he has been played. De Bretton‑Gordon warned that Russia faces a collapse in oil revenues—losing perhaps a third of its income—and has already cost itself almost a million troops in the conflict. He claimed the dictator’s paranoia is such that he employs at least two doppelgangers to confuse potential assassins, and said ordinary Russians “cannot even buy a loaf of bread.”
Bruce Jones, a senior UK analyst in Russian intelligence, agreed that the dictator’s internal position is precarious. “He has had people killed for years and some in his military have already been dealt with in such a way. He knows how this goes for a leader in Moscow who is not making good decisions,” Jones said, adding that the dictator’s paranoia is understandable.
Yet Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan, doubted any plot could succeed. “There are plenty of people who would want to have him bumped off. But his security is so tight that it is unlikely to happen for the moment,” Kemp said.
