Overview
- The European intelligence report, published Monday by outlets including CNN, described new safeguards such as home surveillance on close aides, double screening for visitors, bans on internet‑enabled phones, and prohibitions on public transport for select staff.
- Following the December 22, 2025 car‑bomb killing of Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov in Moscow, a stormy Kremlin meeting led Putin to widen Federal Protective Service security to 10 additional senior commanders.
- The dossier says Putin has sharply limited travel, skipped all military‑facility visits so far in 2026, and spent weeks in upgraded bunkers in Russia’s Krasnodar region while the Kremlin circulates pre‑recorded footage to preserve a public presence.
- Sergei Shoigu, now Security Council secretary, is named as tied to coup risk, with the March 5 arrest of his longtime ally Ruslan Tsalikov described as breaching elite protection norms and leaving Shoigu more exposed to investigation.
- Western outlets note the claims are hard to independently verify, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to longer‑range Ukrainian strikes as a reason for tighter precautions and a pared‑back May 9 Red Square parade.