Russian President Vladimir Putin may be on the brink of fleeing the country and going into hiding to save his own life, according to former FSB spy Igor Strelkov.
Strelkov, whose real name is Igor Girkin, played a pivotal role in the annexation of Crimea, he was the military head of pro-Russia rebels in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk. These days, he’s going on YouTube telling YouTubers like Govorit Karaulov that Putin will soon “panic” at the looming failure of the war effort in Ukraine and “vanish.”
There are several ways for Putin to do this, according to Strelkov, but he will do it only when it’s critical.
“Apart from a sudden illness or an accident — but they all are in the future — this year or next year because the situation now is not so critical,” he told Karaulov. “Putin might have a desire to leave, to flee, to leave everything behind.”
The FSB veteran said that based on the dictator’s “psychological type,” if the situation becomes critical, assuming he means the collapse of the war, “he will, most likely, panic and might simply try to get away to save his own life.”
Strelkov, who is pro-war, is disappointed in the Russian leader’s inability to win the war in Ukraine, dismissing his efforts as incompetence and predicting that Russia is “on the verge of military defeat and no capture of small towns and villages changes the situation.”
“Not only mediocre generals and mercenary officials should be responsible for this, but also the commander-in-chief who appointed them and stubbornly refuses to change them.”
Strelkov disappeared from the public eye in 2014 and only returned recently to become a war analyst with over 300,000 subscribers on Telegram. In October, he joined one of the Russian volunteer units in Ukraine, and then wrote about his experience in December:
“Simply put, the troops are fighting by inertia, not having the slightest idea of the ultimate strategic goals of the military campaign. In most parts of the RF [Russian Federation] Armed Forces, soldiers and officers do not understand: In the name of what, for what, and with what purposes they are fighting. It’s a mystery for them: What is the condition for victory or just a condition for ending the war.”
Earlier flee plan claims
Strelkov’s prediction that Putin will flee corroborates the earlier claims of former Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov who wrote on Telegram in early December that Putin and his closest circle already have a “rainy day plan” in place.
The plan, nicknamed “Noah’s Ark,” involves “a search for new land to go to in case it becomes completely uncomfortable in the homeland. The leader’s entourage has not ruled out that he will lose the war, be stripped of power, and have to urgently evacuate somewhere,” Gallyamov wrote.
Gallymov said that the dictator’s most trusted loyalists first considered China but changed his mind over fears of the Asian superpower not cooperating, and hating “losers.” The plans then, according to Gallyamov, shifted to the South American nations of either Argentina or Venezuela.
Separate reports, including the Telegram channel Mozhem Obyasnit, have said that some high-ranking Russian officials have begun shopping for properties and getting residency rights in Venezuela.
Gallyamov then said, referring to Putin claiming that Russia is winning the war in Ukraine, “when they say ‘everything is going according to plan,’ it’s worth asking which one. They seem to have many more than one plan.”
Information for this story was found via Twitter, the Daily Beast, Daily Star, Kyiv Post, Washington Post, BBC, and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
