Vladimir Putin has moved one in all his air defence systems a number of metres from Moscow’s oil refinery after Ukrainian drones damaged the ability.
Moscow was shrouded in noxious black smoke last week and coated in oil rain after a drone strike hit Moscow’s Oil Refinery.
The onslaught – considered Ukraine’s biggest attack on the Russian capital to date – caused significant damage across town as air defences struggled to repel the drones.
Now, Putin has moved a Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and gun system just a number of hundred metres away from the oil refinery.
Russia has long boasted of its anti-aircraft systems, but recent aerial attacks from Ukraine have shown the system is outdated.
The newly moved Pantsir system can be surrounded by a metal cage, which is common on systems which have been deployed near the frontlines – meaning Putin likely relocated one in all his soldiers’ systems to guard Moscow.
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The Russian president is failing to achieve significant traction on the front line while losing ground in several areas.
Reports from analysts have also shown that the Russian leader is becoming increasingly paranoid for his own safety, often working from bunkers.
Putin has even abandoned his favourite palaces, fearing they may very well be targets of drone strikes by his own entourage.
The President’s Security Council Secretary, Sergei Shoigu, who served as Minister of Defence in the course of the first years of the war, is allegedly one in all the figures Putin fears could attempt to topple him.
The Kremlin has already tried to weaken Shoigu’s power, arresting his former deputy last month under suspicion of corruptly making over £50 million in family assets.
Fears of one other coup, after the Wagner rise up in 2023, are growing for Putin, with the Federal Protective Service saying it has ‘significantly tightened security measures’ around Putin.
Any visitors to the Presidential Administration now undergo two levels of screening and a full body search.
Putin has also slashed the variety of location she visits – avoiding his usual haunts in Novo Ogaryovo and his Valdai palace.
Putin lives along with his glamorous Olympic gymnast partner Alina Kabaeva, 42, and their sons Ivan, 11, and Vladimir, six. The youngsters use the family name Spiridonov.
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