- Category
- Latest news
Putin Reportedly Avoids Kremlin After Reports of Iranian Leaders Tracked by Cameras
- Authors
![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
The Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, has likely stopped appearing in the Kremlin for public events amid speculation linked to reports about how US and Israeli services tracked senior Iranian figures, according to Agenstvo on March 18.
Putin’s last public event in the Kremlin was a March 9 meeting on the global oil and gas market, the outlet reported, citing publications on the Kremlin website.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Since then, his published schedule has included meetings with governors, the education minister, and the head of Sberbank, as well as a Security Council session held by video link, but none clearly confirmed his physical presence in the Kremlin.
Agenstvo noted that such appearances do not necessarily prove where Putin was at the time, because meetings with officials and state managers are often released as pre-recorded footage.
Video calls can also be conducted from several presidential residences, each fitted with near-identical offices. On Wednesday, the Kremlin reported that Putin chaired an online government meeting from his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow.
In January, the longest pause between Putin’s visits to the Kremlin did not exceed six days.
The outlet placed the pause against a backdrop of large-scale internet outages in central Moscow and unverified speculation about security fears inside the Kremlin.
Russian opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov wrote that officials may have been alarmed by reports that Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28, had allegedly been tracked through Tehran’s street surveillance cameras.
Financial Times previously reported that Israel’s strike on Khamenei’s residence in Tehran was made possible in part by long-term surveillance through hacked traffic cameras across the Iranian capital.
The atmosphere of concern also aligns with broader steps to reinforce protection around Putin’s residences.
Russia’s Federal Protective Service has proposed a protected zone of more than three square kilometers around the Bocharov Ruchey residence in Sochi, extending security restrictions across both land and a section of the Black Sea.
The draft order would ban drone flights of any size, most boat anchoring, helipad construction, vehicle and motorcycle repairs, animal breeding, waste dumping, and banner-style signage in the surrounding area.
It would also bar shooting ranges, indoor firing ranges, paintball and airsoft clubs, and other organizations that use items that resemble weapons.
-7f54d6f9a1e9b10de9b3e7ee663a18d9.png)
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
