Has Putin Fled? Plane Linked To Russian Leader Allegedly Flew North, Then Switched Off Transponder

Reports from Ukrainian intelligence as well as multiple sources have indicated the Russian leader has left Moscow for Tver and switched off its transponder. It comes as a sinister message shared on the Wagner Telegram channel said, ‘Putin made the wrong choice. All the worse for him. Soon we will have a new president.’ Other business jets were equally seen making an exodus from the capital, heading towards St. Petersburg. 

Earlier reports alleged that the Russian leader left Moscow by helicopter for his palace at Valdai, between Moscow and St. Petersburg. 

However, sources close to Putin insisted he was working in the Kremlin, an unusual location for him except for short visits. His spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also denied the Russian leader had flown to St. Petersburg on a TU-214PU aircraft from which he could launch a nuclear war. But then, the FlightReader tracking service used by some social media users noted that Putin’s plane left Moscow at 14:16 and went northwest. 

Reportedly, the Russian leader spends time at his home in Lake Valdai, northwest of Moscow, and doesn’t permanently live in the capital. 

There has also been a claim from Telegram Channel General SVR that Putin’s friends almost without exception were preparing routes for relocation along with friends and relatives. According to We Can Explain, the wealthiest in Putin’s government, deputy premier, Denis Manturov has left the country for Turkey, citing flight records for his VIP Sukhoi Suprject which has about ten beds. 

The news outlet, Important Stories, claimed a source had indicated Putin planned to eliminate his former crony Yebvgeny Prigozhin.

A source said told the outlet: ‘Putin doesn’t need a big shooting, so the number one task is to precisely eliminate Prigozhin and tear off the backbone of Wagner from him.’ Moscow spy chief Sergey Naryshkin, head of Putin’s SVR foreign intelligence agency, claimed ‘it is clear that the attempt to rock Russian society, kindle the fire of a fratricidal civil war has failed.’ A source inside Wagner said the troops were fighting Putin under threats of being executed if they disobeyed.

Wagner is infamous for using sledgehammers to execute ‘traitors’ in extrajudicial killings.

A source told gulagu.net: ‘Many in our assault squad are in shock. We do not want to participate in this, but the rules of the [war] are now being applied here in Russia. For refusing to comply with an order – [the punishment is] ‘zeroing’. Two were already shot during preparations for the capture of the headquarters of the Defence Ministry in Rostov-on-Don. And now we are outlaws in general – and these freaks [the Wagner commanders] threaten to nullify us, and t they will cover us on the track. We are suicide bombers and there is almost no chance [of success].’

Prigozhin’s Wagner group has insisted Russian leaders will be toppled and ‘soon we will have a new president’. 

It comes as the Wagner group claimed to have shot down three Russian helicopters. And indeed, the footage shows huge black plumes of smoke rising into the air on a field after what is claimed to be a helicopter was targeted and burst into flames. Russian forces appeared to confirm three of its attack helicopters had been shot down by Wagner. It also comes as an enraged Prigozhin declared on Friday that his 25,000-strong force is marching into Rostov-on-Don.

The Wagner group leader made the move in fury at what he said was Moscow’s attack on his men, adding that he intends to march to Moscow to take on defense chiefs.

Other video footage that has appeared online shows a major oil depot engulfed in flames in Voronezh. Videos also show a helicopter flying over the depot before a huge explosion sends a fireball into the air. The Russian leader Vladimir Putin today branded Prigozhin’s military coup ‘treason’ as he addressed the Russian people, saying the military leader has ‘stabbed him in the back’. 

So far, Prigozhin and his 25,000-strong Wagner militia have reportedly control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, saying they are ‘ready to die.’

As of now, all public events have been canceled in the Russian capital as Putin took to TV to say some Russians have been ‘tricked into a criminal adventure’ in a bid to affirm his shaky grip on power. The Russian leader further described the group’s actions as a ‘criminal adventuristic campaign’ that is ‘equivalent to armed mutiny’, and urged those involved to cease any armed action, as the unit’s HQ in St Petersburg was reportedly raided. 

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