{"id":469405,"date":"2026-05-05T11:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/469405\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T11:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:21:13","slug":"vladimir-putin-retreats-to-bunkers-as-kremlin-tightens-security-amid-assassination-fears-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/469405\/","title":{"rendered":"Vladimir Putin retreats to bunkers as Kremlin tightens security amid assassination fears \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia<\/a> has stepped up security protocols for president Vladimir Putin<\/a> amid fears of assassination as he grows more isolated and absorbed by his war in Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In recent months, Russia\u2019s Federal Protective Service (FSO), which guards top officials, has sharply tightened security around the president. He spends more time in underground bunkers micromanaging the war and has grown more detached from civilian affairs, according to people who know Putin in Moscow and a person close to European intelligence services.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s isolation has increased in recent years, particularly since the Covid-19<\/a> pandemic. But as of March, the Kremlin\u2019s concern over a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat or an assassination attempt, specifically involving drones, has intensified sharply, said the person close to European intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shock of Ukraine\u2019s drone Operation Spiderweb is still there,\u201d a person familiar with Putin said. Last year, Ukrainian drones attacked Russian airfields beyond the Arctic Circle. Security fears were additionally fuelled by the US\u2019s seizure of Venezuela\u2019s leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in January, said a second person also familiar with the president.<\/p>\n

In response, the FSO has further tightened stringent security measures. Putin has cut down his visits and security checks for people meeting him in person have been tightened further, said the person close to European intelligence.<\/p>\n

The president and his family have stopped going to their residences in the Moscow region and in north-western Valdai. Putin is spending more time in bunkers, including in the Krasnodar area in southern Russia, working from there for several weeks, while state media use recorded footage to project normality.<\/p>\n

Staff in the president\u2019s immediate circle, including cooks, photographers and bodyguards, have been barred from taking public transport and using mobile phones or internet-enabled devices around him. Surveillance systems have been installed in their homes.<\/p>\n

People in Russia who know Putin said recent internet shutdowns in Moscow are also at least partly related to the president\u2019s security and anti-drone protection.<\/p>\n

FSO agents now conduct large-scale checks with the help of dog units, and are stationed along the banks of the Moscow river, ready to react in case of drone attacks, according to European intelligence.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\"RussianRussian servicemen await the rehearsal of the “Victory Day” military parade at Red Square, in central Moscow. Photograph: Igor Ivanko\/AFP\/Getty Images \"PeoplePeople in Russia who know Putin said recent internet shutdowns in Moscow are also at least partly related to the president\u2019s security and anti-drone protection. Photograph: Alexander Kazakov\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Security concerns are not limited to Putin. According to the person close to European intelligence, security service representatives at a meeting with the president late last year blamed one another for failures to protect Russia\u2019s top military personnel, including the killing of Fanil Sarvarov, a lieutenant general \u2013 the latest in a series of Ukraine-linked attacks.<\/p>\n

Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB, the federal security service, blamed the defence ministry, which, unlike other agencies, lacks a unit dedicated to protecting senior officials. Viktor Zolotov, head of the National Guard and Putin\u2019s former bodyguard, denied responsibility, citing limited resources.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the president called for calm and tasked the FSO with ensuring the security of 10 senior generals, including three deputies, to Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff, who until then had been the only officer under such protection.<\/p>\n

The tightening of security measures has coincided with Putin, who traditionally has been more absorbed in geopolitics, dropping domestic policies to concentrate on the war, said two people who speak to him.<\/p>\n

The president holds daily meetings with military officials, focusing on operational details such as the names of small Ukrainian settlements that are changing hands. Non-war-related officials, in contrast, are typically granted an audience only once every few weeks or months.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0How culture became one of Ukraine\u2019s most powerful weapons against RussiaOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cPutin spends 70 per cent of his time running the war and the other 30 per cent meeting [someone like] the president of Indonesia or dealing with the economy,\u201d said one person who knows him, adding that the only way to get more access is through \u201cdoing more war\u201d.<\/p>\n

Andrei Kolesnikov, a Moscow-based political analyst, said: \u201cPutin is like the new Banksy sculpture in London [a man carrying a flag that covers his face], he does not want to see or hear. He listens only to the security services, which now run all spheres of life, and hopes that people will adapt to this as the new normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s remoteness has fuelled frustration among Russians as they are growing tired of the war and grapple with mounting domestic issues.<\/p>\n

According to state-backed as well as independent pollsters, Putin\u2019s approval ratings have slipped to their lowest level since autumn 2022, when he announced a partial mobilisation, prompting hundreds of thousands of young men to flee the country.<\/p>\n

Social media is filled with videos of ordinary Russians and influencers criticising the authorities over internet crackdowns, taxes for small businesses and livestock culls in Siberia.<\/p>\n

The most prominent has been Victoria Bonya, a Monaco-based lifestyle blogger. In an 18-minute video address to Putin last month, she said that \u201cpeople are afraid of him\u201d. The clip gained more than 1.5 million likes.<\/p>\n

\"VictoriaVictoria Bonya attends the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2024. Photograph: Neilson Barnard\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

While Bonya made it clear that she does not oppose the regime, the scale of the video\u2019s reach forced the Kremlin to acknowledge it had seen it.<\/p>\n

After Bonya\u2019s speech, Putin publicly addressed internet crackdowns for the first time, urging officials to \u201cinform citizens\u201d properly and not to \u201cfocus solely on bans\u201d.<\/p>\n

On April 27th, Putin made his second public appearance this year, visiting a sports school in his native St Petersburg. A video released by the Kremlin shows him in a brief exchange with a group of girls in black leotards, at the end of which he kisses one of them on the forehead.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin has long used such staged interactions with ordinary people to demonstrate Putin\u2019s approachability.<\/p>\n

\u201cA sure sign that Putin is worried about his falling approval ratings: he\u2019s publicly kissing children again,\u201d said Farida Rustamova, independent Vlast newsletter founder and political analyst, referring to similar instances, such as when Putin kissed a boy on the stomach in 2006, apparently in an attempt to portray the president as closer to the masses.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s few trips and meetings so far this year, compared with at least 17 in 2025, are another sign of tighter security and a diminished focus on domestic affairs. Last year\u2019s engagements included visits to the Kursk region bordering Ukraine and to military headquarters where he appeared in uniform at least five times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gap between what Putin is willing to deal with and what is expected of him is widening,\u201d said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, adding that this was unlikely to change any time soon.<\/p>\n

The public\u2019s \u201cbursts of discontent will only become more frequent\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russia has stepped up security protocols for president Vladimir Putin amid fears of assassination as he grows more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,64,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,550,7,8,2264,2263],"class_list":{"0":"post-469405","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-covid-19","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-russia","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-topstories","25":"tag-ukraine-crisis","26":"tag-vladimir-putin"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116521712062782323","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}