Security has been massively increased around the Kremlin dictator who has abandoned his favourite palaces, fearing they could be targets of drone strikes
Vladimir Putin has reportedly retreated to bunkers where he works “for weeks” amid new fears of a coup, says a report citing a Western intelligence agency.
Security has been massively increased around the Kremlin dictator who has abandoned his favourite palaces, fearing they could be targets of drone strikes ordered by the “Russian political elite”. The new analysis has come from the independent Russian news outlet Important Stories and cites an unnamed intelligence agency.
“Since the beginning of March 2026, the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin have been concerned about a leak of sensitive information and, at the same time, about the risk of a plot or coup attempt against the Russian president,” said the report.
“In particular, he fears the use of drones for a possible assassination attempt by members of the Russian political elite.”
His Security Council Secretary, Sergei Shoigu – who was Minister of Defence for the first years of the war – is “associated with the risk of a coup attempt”.
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An apparent bid to weaken Shoigu came last month with the arrest of his former deputy Ruslan Tsalikov, under suspicion of corruptly amassing an eye-watering fortune of almost £50 million in family assets. Shoigu was first linked with coup fears last month.
The latest claims are based on the analysis of “an intelligence service of a European Union country”. The state is not named.
The Federal Protective Service (FSO) has “significantly tightened security measures” around Putin, says the report. “Visitors to the Presidential Administration undergo two levels of screening, including a full body search by FSO officers,” said the report.
“The FSO has significantly reduced the list of locations regularly visited by the president; neither he nor his family visit their usual residences in the Moscow region [Novo-Ogaryovo] and Valdai anymore.”
Putin reportedly lives with his glamorous Olympic gymnast partner Alina Kabaeva, 42, and their sons Ivan, 11, and Vladimir, six. The children use the family name Spiridonov.
The new report alleges that “since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Putin has often taken refuge in renovated bunkers, particularly in the Krasnodar region, where he may work for weeks, while Russian media continue public communication using pre-recorded footage”.
This region – frequently attacked by Ukrainian drones – is the location of his £1 billion clifftop Gelendzhik palace, equipped with multiple underground floors and likened to the lair of a James Bond villain.
The report notes that Putin has halted visits to military infrastructure this year, when such visits were claimed to happen in 2025.
“FSO officers conduct large-scale checks using canine units and are also deployed along the Moscow River, ready to respond to possible drone attacks,” it says.
Putin’s normal public relations team has reportedly been sidelined and his security operatives now approves Russia media reports about the dictator, following a “secret presidential decree”. The level of paranoia is clear from the claims that “personnel working near Putin are now prohibited from using mobile phones — they must use devices without internet access.
“These employees are also banned from using public transportation and move exclusively using FSO transport. Surveillance systems have been installed in the homes of cooks, photographers, and bodyguards.”
Security has been stepped up around ten senior generals after the killing of Lt-Gen Fanil Sarvarov in a car bomb in Moscow in December, said the report. At the time this assassination was seen as a Ukrainian operation.
This triggered a meeting which descended into a shouting match as Putin’s top security officials blamed each other for the failure to protect the elite. “At the end of this tense meeting, Vladimir Putin called for calm, proposing to change the format of the discussion. He instructed participants to submit their proposals for resolving the issues discussed within a week.”
