Military helicopter added to Putin’s motorcade security
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to the Chelyabinsk region to attend military exercises, his motorcade was accompanied by a military helicopter. Earlier, an electronic warfare system and an anti-aircraft machine gun were spotted among his security detail, The Moscow Times reports.
During the trip, drivers were stopped before entering the highway, as a long convoy of vehicles was traveling along it at high speed. A military helicopter hovered above it.
Rosavtodor closed federal highways in the Chelyabinsk region to all traffic from October 2 to 5, citing military exercises and Putin’s visit.
The security around the Russian President has been noticeably tightened from one trip to the next. Back in the spring, in Astana, observers noticed a vehicle equipped with an electronic warfare system and an armored vehicle with a machine-gunner’s position mounted on its roof.
Putin’s limousine was accompanied by about 20 vehicles and 14 motorcyclists at the time, while Kazakhstan’s state security service confirmed that military aviation had been deployed.
In the fall, the security convoy was further reinforced. During Putin’s September visit to Vladivostok, a pickup truck carrying an anti-aircraft machine gun was part of the convoy, and now air support has been added to the ground security detail.
The Kremlin is strengthening the Kremlin leader’s security not only while he is on the move. At the end of August, it became known that Putin had increased the number of his bodyguards for the fourth time: he is now protected by more than 800 officers of the Federal Protective Service. Their number has increased by nearly 100 over four years.
According to the Financial Times, major changes to Putin’s security took place after the United States killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Kremlin became concerned that modern artificial intelligence tools could analyze millions of hours of video and identify potential targets, prompting a restructuring of Putin’s security.
