The Kremlin has now installed surveillance systems in the homes of close employees of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A wave of assassinations of top Russian military officials and fears of a coup prompted a dramatic increase in his personal security, CNN reported Monday.
Putin’s chefs, bodyguards and photographers have been banned from public transport, citing a report by a European intelligence agency. In addition, those who come to meet the Kremlin chief must be double-screened, while those who work near him can only use mobile phones without internet access, the dossier said.
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Why did the Kremlin increase Putin’s security?
According to the report, some of the drastic measures were put in place in the past few months after the killing of a top general in December last year, sparking a row in the highest ranks of Russia’s security establishment. These measures further point to growing unrest within the company, which is facing growing problems at home and abroad. This includes economic concerns, growing signs of dissent and setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Russia is restricting the places Putin visits
As part of the measure, Russian security officials have also drastically reduced the number of places Putin regularly visits. The Kremlin chief and his family have now also stopped going to their usual residences in the Moscow region and to Valday, their secluded summer home located between St. Petersburg and the capital.
The report suggests that Putin has not yet visited a single military facility this year, despite making regular trips in 2025. To circumvent these restrictions, the Kremlin releases pre-recorded images of him to the public.
Since Russia’s war in Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has spent several weeks at a time in modernized bunkers, often in Krasnodar, a coastal region on the Black Sea, hours from Moscow.
Has Russia lost the war with Ukraine?
The development comes amid a growing perceived crisis around the Kremlin, four years after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow’s losses, estimated by Western countries at roughly 30,000 dead and wounded each month, have been coupled with limited territorial gains on the front line and repeated attacks by Ukraine deep inside Russia that have tipped the balance of the conflict and pushed it to a level many believe is unsustainable.
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The economic costs of the war are now abundantly clear, as the mobile phone data blackouts that regularly ravage major cities have begun to upset even the pro-Putin bourgeoisie. This underscores the impact of the war on the urban elite, who have so far been largely insulated from its effects.
Kremlin, Putin worried about information leaks
Since March 2026, both Putin and the Kremlin have been concerned about potential leaks of sensitive information, along with the risk of a plot or coup attempt against the Russian president, who is now especially wary of the use of drones for a possible assassination attempt by members of Russia’s political elite.
The report suggests that it is unusual for Western intelligence agencies to leak detailed reports of confidential dealings by hostile actors, likely obtained from human or electronic sources, both of which could be compromised if exposed. But the disclosure likely reflects an effort by European officials to seize on what critics have long argued is their primary strategy for defeating Moscow in Kiev: waiting for its internal collapse, the report said.
