The Kremlin has reinforced security measures around the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, for fear of a coup d’état or attempted assassination, according to the American media The Financial Times. According to information revealed by a person close to the European intelligence services, as well as people close to Putin, he spends more and more time in bunkers.
Concern for the president’s security has increased, especially after the Ukrainian drone attacks, which last year even reached areas of the Arctic Circle. “The shock caused by Ukraine’s ‘Spiderweb’ drone operation is still present,” according to a Financial Times source. Furthermore, according to the same sources, the arrest of Nicolás Maduro increased fear of a possible attack.
Therefore, the Federal Protection Service (FSO) has increased the already strict security measures. At the moment, Putin spends most of his time in bunkers in the Krasnodar region and hardly receives visitors or participates in public events.
Doubles or stool collection
Throughout 2026 he has only been seen in public on two occasions – a figure that draws attention compared to the 17 last year – and it is suspected that he has up to three doubles; Furthermore, when he participates in public events, he surrounds himself with actors who pretend to be his followers in order to prevent other people from approaching him.
The theory of doubles comes from afar. A few years ago, an advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry published a comparison of several images of Putin in which he pointed out that the chin, ears and nose were not the same.
In addition, according to the Paris Match media, the obsession with safety includes other more drastic measures, such as someone having to taste his food before him or not leaving any DNA sample. According to ‘Paris Match’, when Putin travels, a team is in charge of collecting his feces and other remains, which are taken back to Russia in plastic.
His inner circle is also strictly monitored.
This does not end here, because the security measures have been extended to the people who interact with him, who have been prohibited from using public transport, their internet has been cut off in their presence and cameras have been installed in their homes as a preventive measure. This would explain the internet outages that have occurred in Moscow recently, although the Kremlin denies it.
Likewise, according to the Financial Times, Putin is solely focused on the war and has left aside the country’s internal problems, which has increased tension among citizens, tired of the conflict, Internet cuts and taxes. There are many videos on social networks criticizing the authorities, such as that of the influencer Viktoria Bonya.
