Putin no longer seen at Kremlin following Khamenei's elimination, reports say
Photo: Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has stopped appearing at public events in the Kremlin; he was last seen on March 9. This is one of the longest breaks in the Russian leader’s schedule since the beginning of the year, according to the Russian news outlet Agenstvo.
Putin's last public appearance
The agency notes that Putin’s last public event at the Kremlin took place on March 9—a meeting regarding the situation on the global oil and gas market.
Since then, Putin has met only with governors, the Minister of Education, and the head of Sberbank, and has also held a video conference with the Security Council.
The Agenstvo says that the meetings could have been canned, meaning pre-recorded clips, and that Putin could have participated in the video conferences from various residences.
For example, on Wednesday, March 18, Putin held an online meeting with the Russian government from his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow region. He was in an office, exact replicas of which have also been recreated at his residences in Sochi and Valdai.
As the Agenstvo notes, this is one of the longest breaks in visiting the Kremlin this year. A longer pause was recorded only in February—it lasted 12 days. In January, the breaks between public events did not exceed six days.
Rumors about reasons for Putin's disappearance
The agency shares "unverified but persistent rumors" about the reason for Putin’s disappearance.
It is allegedly linked to the fact that the Kremlin was alarmed by the revelation that Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28, had been tracked by the CIA and Mossad using street surveillance cameras—of which there are more in Moscow than in Tehran.
This may also be the primary reason for the internet shutdown.
"Another point worth noting is the possible treatment of Iran's current Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Moscow. Equally noteworthy is the relentless hunt by American forces for Iranian leaders. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed earlier, and the US subsequently eliminated Iran’s de facto civilian leader, Ali Larijani. And the Americans were able to track them all down using the internet," Agenstvo quotes the conclusions of the propaganda outlet Tsargrad.
At the same time, there is no official confirmation of a link between these events.
Iran's leaders elimination
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died as a result of an Israeli airstrike on his residence in Tehran.
According to the Financial Times, the operation was made possible by prolonged surveillance of his movements via the city's CCTV cameras.
The agency's sources claim that most traffic cameras in the Iranian capital had been hacked and had been transmitting data to servers in Israel for years.
In addition, on March 17, it was reported that another key Iranian official, Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, had been killed; he played an important role in relations between Moscow and Tehran.
Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Basij unit, was also killed.
Israel also announced the elimination of Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib during a nighttime strike. However, Iran has not yet officially confirmed reports of his death.
