Vladimir Putin's staff ordered to follow strict rules in his presence: They must be 'considered clean'

The state of Russian President Vladimir Putin's health has been the subject of a great deal of speculation and conjecture, and not just since the beginning of his war in Ukraine. The Kremlin leader has already been rumoured by several sources to be suffering from cancer or feeling the effects of Parkinson's disease. However, nothing has been officially confirmed to date.

As the German news portal t-online reports, a former captain in the Federal Protection Service (FSO), which protects Russia’s highest-ranking officials, has now revealed the health precautions taken by the Russian President. According to the report, the Kremlin leader is incredibly afraid of contracting Covid-19.

Strict rules for Vladimir Putin's employees

The former security official, named Gleb Karakulov, defected to Turkey with his family in late 2022, and is the highest ranking figure to do so from Putin's immediate security circle so far. According to t-online, Karakulov explains that even now, three years after the outbreak of the pandemic, Putin still lives in complete self-isolation.

As a result, employees are not allowed to sit in the same room with Putin at important meetings until they have spent two weeks in quarantine - even if the meeting lasts only 15 or 20 minutes. Karakulov said:

A pool of staff members is created who have undergone this purge - sat out the two-week quarantine. They are considered clean and can work directly in the same room as Putin.

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The defector continued:

He is pathologically afraid for his life. He surrounds himself with an impenetrable barrier of quarantines and an information vacuum. He only values his own life and the lives of his family and friends.

He has shut himself off from the world. His take on reality has become distorted.

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Vladimir Putin's health better than others his age

Employees are already expected to undergo regular physicals and take PCR tests. In addition, staff have already been required to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

So, there is not much understanding of all these rules among the staff, as Karakulov further explains, according to t-online. Rather, there is confusion that the measures are still so strict.

Karakulov did not comment on the speculation about Putin's state of health; he merely believes that Putin's fear of infection is age-related. He said about his 'health issues':

They are simply due to age. Probably they are. But nothing too over the top.

He further emphasised, however, that for a man of his age, Putin is still more fit than others in terms of health. The Russian President regularly undergoes health checks, and even during Karakulov's term of service from 2009 to 2022, only one or two business trips were cancelled for health reasons, according to the defector.

This article has been adapted from Gentside DE.

Source used:

t-online: 'Ex-Sicherheitsbeamter packt aus: 'Nur saubere Mitarbeiter können mit Putin im selben Raum arbeiten''

Guardian: 'Russian defector sheds light on Putin paranoia and his secret train network'

Express: 'Russian security boss defects from Moscow before exposing paranoid Putin 'hides in bunker''