There are not one, not two – but three – identical presidential offices used by Vladimir Putin to intercept an assassination plot, it has been revealed.
Defectors have previously shed light on the elaborate arrangements aimed at keeping the Russian president safe – including setting up replicas of his Kremlin office in multiple locations across Russia.
A new investigation by Systema shows that his office in Novo-Ogaryovo, aluxurious estate west of Moscow that has become his de facto residence, has been replicated in the former Winter Olympics host city of Sochi, and also the city of Valday, which halfway between St Petersburg and Moscow.
This has allowed the Kremlin to blur Putin’s whereabouts during his official meetings and televised appearances.
As many as 700 videos from his meetings were reviewed, showing minute – but considerable – discrepancies, proving the clones exist.
One example is from a report aired on October 11, 2020, in which a state TV journalist interviews Putin about a test of a new hypersonic missile.
A tag in the corner of the screen says ‘Novo-Ogaryovo’ and the video shows the president heading for his office door and reaching for the handle.
And that is the giveaway.
The placement of the door handle and a few other details reveal that this was not filmed at Novo-Ogaryovo at all.
In fact, it was shot nearly 1,000 miles to the south, in the office at Bocharov Ruchei, the state residence in Sochi.
Travel documents, the patterns on Putin’s ties, the shape of a TV stand, the hue of a tabletop and the grain of a wooden document tray on the desk are some of the other clues proving the deception.
More and more in recent years, the president has favored Valdai, ever since February 2023, one year after he launched the war in Ukraine.
According to Systema, Kremlin footage and other leaked materials suggest that almost all his meetings allegedly filmed at Novo-Ogaryovo this year actually took place at Valdai.
Russian state TV crews are sworn to secrecy when filming him at all the alternative locations, as are officials ordered to partly televised audiences with the despot.
Information about duplicate offices has appeared before, but all has been based on stories from sources.
Gleb Karakulov, an officer in Putin’s secretive personal security service who defected in October 2023 alongside his wife and daughter, revealed details about the ruse six months later.
He recalled: ‘There were times when I knew he was in Sochi. The TV is on in the background; the news is on, and they show him conducting a meeting in Novo-Ogaryovo.
‘So, I ask a colleague in Sochi, “Has he left already?” “No,” he says, “he’s still here.’”
Karakulov said his colleagues would laugh among themselves about the office replicas.
‘I think that this is an attempt to confuse, first, [foreign] intelligence and second so that there are no assassination attempts,’ the defector said.
‘But that does not stop him from being afraid. Why else would he need such a smoke screen?’
Other precautions reportedly orchestrated by the Kremlin include Putin having a body double.
Speculations surrounding this have been rife since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, but no proof has been shared yet.
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