Vladimir Putin withdraws from annual ice hockey game in latest 'suspicious' move

Vladimir Putin's annual ice-hockey match with select allies and bodyguards has been cancelled, The Times reports.

The escape plan dubbed 'Noah's Ark'

Earlier this month, reports suggested Putin and his inner circle are devising an escape plan in case they must leave Moscow urgently.

The alleged escape plan dubbed 'Noah's Ark' would see Putin and his entourage flee to South America due to a threat of being deposed from power.

Russia's plans in Ukraine have backfired, and the momentum is clearly for some time now on the side of the defenders.

A Russian commander in Ukraine admitted this week that their forces do not have the resources to win the war with conventional methods suggesting they try to do so with nuclear weapons.

Suspicious cancellations

With the fate of the unprovoked war going anything but his way, Putin is increasingly ditching public appearances where he would have to face criticism, Express reports.

Earlier this week a report suggested Putin had retreated to a bunker due to fears for his health or from additional Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory. Thus the annual press event was stricken from the agenda, and now the annual ‘Red Square ice-hockey match’.

Other end-of-year events such as the address to Parliament and the New Year Celebrations gala event are expected to be cancelled as well.

Yekaterina Schulmann, a Russian political scientist, raised the suspicious look of these actions:

This all looks somewhat suspicious. These events are all necessary for a sense of stability. People are already in a desperate state of mind.

Sources used:

-The Times: ‘Where is Putin? Russian leader may be hatching ‘Noah’s Ark’ escape’

-Express: 'Ukraine LIVE: Putin's ‘Noah’s Ark’ escape plot exposed as despot prepares to be toppled'