Moscow: A plot to assassinate Russian president Vladimir Putin?
A video doing the rounds on social media shows a limousine – apparently one from Putin’s official car fleet – burst into flames near the FSB secret service headquarters in Lubyanka on Moscow’s Sretenka Street. The flames spread from the engine to the car’s interior.
Authorities have claimed that nobody was injured in the ‘accident’ that comes days after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky predicted Putin’s death. He had, however, clarified that the 72-year-old Russian president would die of ill health.
Sources in Moscow have told the international media that several attempts have been made on Putin’s life over the last few years. These include a kamikaze drone strike on the Kremlin.
According to those in the know, the limousine that exploded was an Aurus Senat, priced between US$ 275,000 and US$ 356,000. Putin is known to love these Russian-made vehicles and has even gifted some of them to world leaders. One Aurus limousine went to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
The incident, played down by Russian security agencies, has made the world sit up and take notice. Earlier this year, the Kremlin had warned that any attempt on Putin’s life would trigger a nuclear response. Russian parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin had said that ‘such discussions’ are a serious threat to ‘global security’.
Ukraine, on the other hand, has not denied that attempts have been made on Putin’s life in the past several months. Not only Putin, but several of his top generals have also been targeted. In December, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, who allegedly used chemical weapons against the Ukrainians, died in an explosion in Moscow.
Zelensky is under a lot of global pressure to accept a truce under Russia’s terms. As it is, the US and several European nations are at loggerheads over support to Ukraine. The European nations pledged support to the country after the US stopped all military aid earlier this month.
