Putin's Odd Strategy To Avoid Assassination Revealed By Defector: Replica Offices

A former top-ranking member of the Kremlin's Federal Guard Service has disclosed the odd strategies of President Vladimir Putin to avoid assassination.

In an interview with The Dossier Center, Gleb Karakulov — who served as the captain of the Kremlin's Federal Guard Service (FSO) and an engineer in the agency's presidential communications unit — said Putin keeps replica offices in his residences to confuse foreign intelligence and possible assassins.

"His offices, whether in St. Petersburg, Sochi, or Novo-Ogaryovo, are all the same; that is, everything there is identical. There were times when I knew he was in Sochi. The TV is on in the background; the news is on, and they show him conducting a meeting in Novo-Ogaryovo. So, I ask a colleague in Sochi, 'Has he left already?' 'No, he says, 'he's still here.,'" Karakulov said.

In addition, Putin also deliberately pretends he is leaving one of his offices as part of a ruse to throw off a trail.

"The guys used to joke that when Putin was in Sochi, they would deliberately pretend that he was leaving. They would bring a plane, a motorcade would set off. While in actual fact, he would stay in Sochi," he told the outlet.

Despite the odd tactics, Karakulov said there have been no recent attempts on Putin's life. But Karakulov noted that the Russian leader is "afraid" of possible assassination attempts in the future, which is why he went to great lengths to have replica offices constructed to serve as a "smoke screen."

Karakulov's remarks refute previous claims that Putin survived an assassination attempt while his motorcade was driving through Moscow in September 2022. The claim was made by the General SVR Telegram channel, which is purported to have sources inside the Russian intelligence community. The channel, however, did not provide any evidence to back its claims at the time of posting.

The Dossier Center interviewed Karakulov late last year but only published the story Tuesday after ensuring that he and his family are safe. Karakulov is currently the highest-ranking Kremlin member to have defected from Russia after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.