Why it is difficult to break Putin's security circle

Posted on 24th Mar 2022 by rohit kumar

Nothing happens immediately in the life of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian President's every move is closely monitored by hundreds of bodyguards, who stay with him 24 hours a day.

 

His food is prepared secretly and everything he drinks is first checked by his closest advisor. Former KGB officials are well aware of the dangers surrounding Putin, especially in times of war.

 

Putin is leading Russia's invasion of Ukraine and this poses some additional security risks for him. But who is responsible for Putin's security? What are the measures to keep them safe?

 

We have brought answers to all these questions for you.

 

Strong Security Team

 

Currently, one of the many security services operating in Russia is dedicated exclusively to the security of the President and his family. It is known as the 'Russian Presidential Security Service'.

 

It reports to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSO), which was formed out of the KGB. The KGB itself works to provide security to high Russian officials.

 

Wearing black suits with earphones in his ears, these guards stay with Putin day and night like a shadow.

 

According to Russia's state-owned media, Russia Beyond, when these agents accompany Putin on activities abroad, they divide themselves into four circles.

 

His closest circle is that of his guards.

 

The second circle is made from those guards who do not get the attention of the public. The third circle surrounds the perimeter of the crowd and prevents suspicious people from entering it.

 

And the fourth and last circle is of snipers located on the roofs of surrounding buildings.

 

Mark Gelito is a Russian security expert and director of Mayak Intelligence, a consulting firm that analyzes security issues in the country.

 

He told the BBC Mundo service, "Putin does not like helicopters, he usually travels in a large convoy with motorcyclists, several big black cars, etc. For this many times, there is no drone in the airspace. There are restrictions on flying. Traffic is stopped."

 

Russia's presidential security service is supported by the "Russian National Guard", or Rosgvardia. It was built by Putin himself only six years ago, and some refer to it as the president's "personal army".

 

It differs from the Russian Armed Forces, although its official mission is to secure Russian borders, fight terrorism, and protect public law and order.

 

In practice, its most important job is to protect Putin from threats.

 

"Everybody knows the Russian National Guard is pretty much Putin's guard," Stephen Hall, a Russian academic expert at the University of Bath in Britain, told BBC Mundo.

 

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"And the president is very safe in the circle of the rest of his security services."

 

The National Guard is currently headed by Putin's former bodyguard Viktor Zolotov. He is considered a loyal aide of the President.

 

In recent years, the number of soldiers in this security force has been increased by about four lakhs.

 

Hall says, "This is a huge number, the number of guards in the security unit of the President of America is not even close to these figures."

 

How do they protect Putin?

 

While it is difficult to know to what extent the measures are used to protect Putin, the Kremlin and Russian security experts have shed some light on the matter.

 

What Putin's security cover is the most strict about is his food.

 

Fearing poison, Putin has a personal tester, according to Mark Galeotti, who examines everything that comes to the president.

 

"It's part of a style that's more like a medieval monarch than a modern president," he tells BBC Mundo.

 

Plus, when he travels outside Russia, the president's team checks everything he uses.

 

Geleotti explains, "They take all the food that Putin is going to eat. For example, if there is an official champagne toast, Putin takes the champagne from the bottle that his team brings for him. Not from."

 

not using smartphone

 

Another measure that is considered important to Putin's security is to block smartphones inside the Kremlin.

 

The Russian President himself has confirmed that he does not use these devices.

 

In 2020, in an interview with the Russian news agency Tas, he admitted this. Also told that if he wants to get in touch with anyone then there is an official line to do so.

 

His advisors have also accepted this. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has repeatedly said that Putin does not use a mobile phone because he "has no time".

 

But the truth is that Putin doesn't do it because he doesn't have the slightest faith in the Internet.

 

In the past, he hinted that the Internet was a "CIA-American intelligence agency project" and urged Russians not to use Google Search. They believe that Americans monitor all information.

 

Galeotti says, "Putin rarely uses the Internet, it is known that he does not like phones. And that's fine. He is honest in terms of security. Putin is right. Smartphones are not very secure.

 

Experts say that Putin is informed through paper files that his advisers give him.

 

"Putin starts his day with three security briefings. One that concerns the whole world. One about what's going on in Russia and the third one about what's going on in the elite," Hall says.

 

"For them, this is the most important information and it decides the agenda for their day"

 

He says, "I remember talking to diplomats and foreign ministry officials. They told me that if they had information that their intelligence services didn't believe, Putin would assume that his spies were right." And the diplomats are wrong."

 

covid and isolation

 

At this time people's access to Putin has been completely limited.

 

The few leaders who meet him also stand a few meters away from him. You will remember his meeting with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. Both were sitting at two ends of a big table.

 

The reason for creating such distances is to some extent due to corona infection. This has further increased the isolation.

 

According to the BBC Russian Service, the decisions that have been implemented during this period require a mandatory two-week quarantine for those watching Putin's security system. They have to follow strict medical rules. Those living around them also have to undergo corona tests at fixed intervals. They are not allowed to take part in public events.

 

On March 15, the Russian government's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that as long as experts deem it right, the steps taken by Corona for Putin's current security will continue.

 

So this is how in Russia your health is treated as a matter of national security.

 

General James Clapper, who has worked in the CIA, FBI, NSA, and one of Barack Obama's top advisers, said in BBC Radio-4's Today program that Putin is in isolation.

 

He said, "Due to Covid, Putin has been in isolation for the last two years. There are very few people around him who have access to him. Therefore, it is also very difficult to gather intelligence about this. Information you can trust. ,

 

Galeotti also believes in the same way. "Putin is very isolated," he says. The circle of people close to him has shrunk considerably.

 

"His tour in the country has also reduced considerably. And he is hardly visible even in public events. Security guards are the only people with whom Putin has a personal relationship.

 

According to Galeotti, how the people in the security guard were later elevated to high positions (in this regard the example of Viktor Zolotov in the National Guard was cited).

 

According to some intelligence experts, the tight security that has been built around Putin is a kind of Russian 'fad' about it.

 

Some say the president who has been in the KGB will know better than others how important his security is to him.

 

It may be correct to think so, but the security circle around Putin suggests that his security and isolation are increasing continuously. Galeotti says that things happen in Russia as Putin wants.