Putin fears for his life: “pathological fear”

An enemy drone attack that could have targeted the Russian President: the images that recently went around the world seem to prove Vladimir Putin right. So far nothing has been clarified.

Nonetheless, Putin’s “security craze” no longer seems so far-fetched these days. Isn’t it understandable that the Kremlin chief would rather travel in an armored train than in a helicopter? Or that he has food tasted, wears a bulletproof vest outdoors and has three identically furnished offices – in Moscow, Sochi and Saint Petersburg. So that his opponents, who supposedly want him dead, never know where he is.

Or is it all “Putin paranoia”, as critics mock? The double theory has recently been the subject of most puzzles and jokes. Accordingly, the President has several doubles who simulate public appearances. In particular, alleged trips to the Ukrainian war zone caused speculation.

Ukraine war: Putin is said to be “morbidly afraid for his life”

The influential Russian military blogger Igor Girkin dryly put it on record: “When I see a Putin with strangers, I know immediately that it’s a double.” only one Putin got caught.”

There is no evidence of attempts at deception of this kind. However, a lot is plausible if you take the obvious into account. Before Putin’s most recent appearance in Volgograd, for example, formerly Stalingrad, the paving stones were renewed so that the president wouldn’t trip. The report of a defector also caused a stir. Gleb Karakulov, an officer in the Kremlin Guard, fled to Turkey and gave an interview there. In it he describes how Putin has “lived in an information cocoon” in recent years. The President spent most of his time in his residences, which some media aptly describe as bunkers. Above all, Putin is “morbidly afraid for his life”.

Putin does not own a smartphone

Apparently, the end of the corona pandemic has not changed that. Anyone who wants to meet the president personally must be in quarantine for two weeks, reports Karakulov. But that’s not all about self-isolation. Putin does not own a smartphone, does not use the Internet and only gets information from close confidants. All of this fits into the common image of the former head of the secret service. Old KGB school. Some of that may be exaggerated. However, there are increasing indications that Putin actually “lives in another world”, as Angela Merkel is said to have said back in 2014.

After the annexation of Crimea, the chancellor at the time had increasing doubts as to whether Putin “still had contact with reality”. At least that’s what media in the US reported, citing sources in the White House. It shouldn’t have gotten any better since then. On the contrary. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there have been increasing signs that Putin is not only living in isolation, but is also acting in a kind of mental bunker mode.

Putin expected a quick triumph

Western secret services regularly report that the 70-year-old almost only takes note of information that confirms his worldview. And that obviously also applies to the situation at the front, which is much worse for the troops from Russia than Putin wants to admit. This is one of the reasons why the President shows no willingness to negotiate.

Ukraine war – background and explanations for the conflict

Moscow sociologist Grigori Yudin, critical of the Kremlin, explains this by referring to the Kremlin chief’s enshrined conviction that he is in an existential final battle with the West. This unconditional will to win, in turn, say military experts, harms the army on the battlefield.

Former German NATO General Erhard Bühler speaks of “unrealistic political targets”. The consequence: instead of doing what is militarily sensible, Russian units are wearing themselves out in the fight for Putin’s plans. There have been enough examples of this since the beginning of the war. Even the invasion itself, with the goal of regime change in Kiev, turned out to be a fundamental miscalculation. Because his advisors apparently only told him what he wanted to hear, Putin expected a quick triumph.

Prigozhin warns of a military catastrophe

Frustrated by the lack of victories, Putin placed three commanders in chief within the first year of the war. There was a lack of continuity and a clear strategy. The result can be observed in Bachmut. Putin kept giving his troops new ultimatums. The extremely competitive city should not be conquered until the end of September 2022, then until the end of winter and finally in April 2023. After that, the entire Donbass should be brought under Russian control. But the prerequisites for Putin’s specifications were lacking. Victory against an unconditionally defending opponent could not be ordered from above.

In the meantime, even Yevgeny Prigozhin is calling for more common sense to prevail at the front. The head of the mercenary army Wagner recently publicly admonished Putin to strengthen his own defense lines. Otherwise, given the expected Ukrainian spring offensive, Russia faces a military catastrophe and ultimately its downfall. However, it is unclear whether Prigozhin, who was considered a close confidant of the president for many years, still has access to the most important circles of power. But even there, at the heart of the Kremlin, everything revolves around Putin anyway.

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