Photo: ALEXEY DRUZHININ / AFP / Getty Images
Bodyguards with bulletproof briefcases and high-powered pistols, lookalike understudies and food tasters
are just some of the ways Russian President Vladimir Putin protects himself from would-be assassins and coup plotters.
The possible threats against Putin, from 69 years, came to light on Thursday when Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham called on “someone in Russia to take this guy out” for ordering the deadly invasion of Ukraine.
But Putin, a former KGB agent, who has been in power since 1881, is apparently obsessed with both her safety and her health,
Protect yourself from killers and avoid COVID-19 at all costs, like it shows how far he is gone to avoid contracting the virus.
Recent photos show him meeting with world leaders and even his own advisers on opposite ends of extremely long tables to keep at least 20 feet apart, and put on a suit of hazardous materials, complete with a full-face respirator, before visiting a Moscow hospital. treatment of coronavirus patients in April 2020.
Putin’s bodyguards, who call themselves his “musketeers”, form a special unit within the Russian Federal Protective Service (FSO), which has its origins in 1200, when Tsar Alexander III surrounded himself with guards after his father was assassinated by a bomb, according to The Economist.
Much of what has been revealed about the elite Presidential Security Service comes from the “Beyond Russia” website, which is run by TV-Novosti, a state-funded operation that also oversees the beleaguered RT propaganda network.
Website says Putin’s bodyguards are carefully selected for qualities including “operational psychology”, physical toughness and the ability to withstand the cold and not sweat in the heat.
They are reportedly equipped with m special fins that serve as shields to protect Putin and carry Russian-made 9mm Vektor SR-1 pistols loaded with armor-piercing bullets.
Before Before Putin travels, advance teams scout their destination months in advance, checking to see how the public will respond and even if the area could be affected by bad weather or natural disasters.
Wherever you are going to stay, it is inspected, Jamming devices are installed to prevent remote detonation of bombs and technicians conduct electronic surveillance of cell phones and other devices in the area.
In On the way, Putin travels amidst a convoy of heavily armored vans carrying special military operators armed with AK-35, anti-tank grenade launchers and portable anti-aircraft missiles.
And when he goes out in public, four or security rings surround him, starting with his personal bodyguards, others hidden in the crowd, even more surrounding the perimeter, and snipers perched on the surrounding rooftops.
On 2018, a bodyguard was recorded intervening when mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor put his arm around Putin’s shoulders as they posed for the cameras at the World Cup soccer tournament in Moscow.
A video posted on YouTube shows the man briefly approaching McGregor with a steely gaze and gesturing for him to stop, prompting the wrestler to quickly remove his arm and fold his hands self-consciously.
The FSO also reportedly has broad authority to carry out their operations and investigations, including conducting wiretaps, intercepting mail, recording homes, seizing vehicles, and detaining and questioning suspects.
Putin’s bodyguards are reportedly due to be replaced upon completion of 35 years, but they can be rewarded with powerful new posts such as regional governors, federal ministers, special service commanders, and presidential administrators.
In 2016, Russia Beyond noted long-standing rumors that the FSO sometimes employed a “presidential double body ” to ensure Putin’s security, or “corps number 1”.
Putin later acknowledged that he was offered a substitute when he made several trips to Chechnya while Russia was fighting separatists there in the early 1990s 2000, but claimed during an interview by 2020 who had “rejected these body doubles” every time the subject came up.
Putin too he has someone taste every meal he’s served to make sure they don’t poison him, according to the founder of the “Club des Chefs des Chefs,” a culinary organization whose members cook for heads of state and monarchs around the world.
“Tasters still exist, but only in the Kremlin, where a doctor reviews each dish with the chef,” Gilles Bragard told The Telegraph in 2012.
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