Two days ago Vladimir Putin resurfaced in a regional trip to Belarus. He apparently flew there together with a large Russian government delegation.
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Reports suggest the Russian President is fearing a potential strike from Ukraine so he devised an elaborate plan to keep the official travel itinerary secret.
Changing the departure flight details
According to the Mirror, this is the first state visit organised by Putin to his ally Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, in three years.
Putinwas accompanied by a large delegation from the Russian government including the Deference Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.
Russian state visits of this level are organised and usually fly out of Moscow, however, this trip was apparently arranged from St. Petersburg to avoid the Ukrainian border out of fear of a possible attack, Mirror reports.
Multiple flights to create conspiracy
According to Ukrainska Pravda,to create confusion on the day of the flight, three planes of the same kind used to carry Russian presidential delegations took off at the same time. Belarus opposition Telegram channel motolkohelp said:
For conspiracy purposes, three government planes he uses were put in the air at the same time - RA-96022, RA-96014 and RA-96020.
Reportedly, a Russian fighter jet was scrambled to patrol the border with Ukraine, meanwhile, a Belarusian fighter helicopter was sent to meet and protect the incoming plane of Putinand his entourage.
According to reports, Putinhas become paranoid about getting attacked by Ukrainians and this is why he has not visited yet the Russian troops on the frontline, Mirror reports.
Sources used:
-Mirror: ‘Vladimir Putin takes elaborate measures to avoid being shot down by Ukraine fighters’
-UkrainskaPravda: ‘Three Putin's planes take off at once to conceal his true route to Belarus’
