Was Vladimir Putin Nearly Assassinated?

Report Claims Putin Survived An Assassination Attempt – A report from Euro Weekly News on Thursday alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin survived an assassination attempt this week.

According to the outlet, which cited a Kremlin insider who spoke to the General GVR Telegram channel, the assassination attempt took place on Wednesday, September 14.

The anonymous Kremlin insider claimed that the front wheel of the Russian president’s car was “hit by a loud bang,” and that smoke quickly followed. The car was then driven to safety, and the Russian president was whisked away.

Local media reports described a man driving an ambulance “blocking the first car from the motorcade.”

The insider said that the Russian president was unharmed by the attack, but that several arrests have been made by the security services. Among those who were taken by the authorities was the head of Putin’s bodyguard service and other members of his security detail. The Kremlin insider also claimed that the president’s movements had been compromised.

“On the way to the residence, a few kilometres away, the first escort car was blocked by an ambulance, [and] the second escort car drove around without stopping [due to the] sudden obstacle, and during the detour of the obstacle,” the insider claimed.

A total of three members of Putin’s security detail appear to have been arrested.

19FortyFive cannot verify the accuracy of the report, though the reports were reproduced by British newspapers The Express, The Mirror, and the Daily Mail.

The General SVR Telegram account has proven extremely popular among Ukraine war analysts and followers throughout the invasion, though the identity of the person who runs the account is unknown. Some believe that the owner of the account is a former member of Russia’s foreign intelligence service.

Putin Attacked As Response to Russian Failure? 

The alleged assassination attempt reportedly took place two weeks after the Ukrainian military launched its largest counteroffensive against Russian officials since the war began on February 24, suggesting that the attack was the culmination of the growing resentment of the Russian president for his inability to achieve his stated military goals.

Given that Putin’s movements were allegedly compromised, and his own bodyguards were detained by the authorities, it appears to suggest that the incident was an inside job.

The report describes a “narrow circle of people” who knew about the president’s movements, and that “all of them were from the presidential security service.”

No additional information has been revealed since the initial report and the Kremlin has not commented on the attack.

The attack comes as Russian politicians call for the president’s resignation, and as he faces tough decisions about what to do in the wake of the Kremlin’s first admitted defeat in Ukraine. The Kremlin officially admitted defeat in Kharkiv this week after initially claiming that fleeing troops were “regrouping” to be redeployed in the Donbas region.

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

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