Few people have made more enemies than Vladimir Putin,
and the dictator of Russia hasn’t given them many ways to express their grievances. Sure,
they can shout it in the public square - but the odds are the police will be right behind them.
So it’s not a surprise that some of them have resorted to other, more violent methods.
But the KGB agent turned politician is ruthless - and he’s managed to survive
more than one assassination attempt. Some of them may just put action heroes to shame.
Putin didn’t take office by an election, he was appointed to the office of Prime Minister in 1999
by Russia’s first - and some would say only - democratic leader, Boris Yeltsin.
When Yeltsin stepped down, Putin became Russia’s new President- and he has held one of the two
positions ever since, taking down every check and balance in his way. That’s twenty-three
years of him wielding increasingly tight control over Russia while his enemies getting ever more
desperate to remove him. The current laws mean he could hold power until 2036 - and
that’s if he doesn’t declare a permanent state of emergency as a result of the war.
And for many of his opponents, Mother Russia’s deathgrip feels ever tighter.
Russia is still technically a democracy - with elections being held at regular intervals.
But are these elections truly free? That’s much trickier. Arrests of protesters,
opposition leaders, and businessmen who fall out of favor are increasingly common.
And for those who Putin can’t find any legal dirt on, he often gets to them another way.
Assassinations by poisoning have become a common trick of the trade for Putin,
with noted Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko being fatally poisoned with polonium in 2006,
and a double agent as well as his daughter being targeted with a nerve agent in 2018.
While the latter two survived, what scared the world about these two attacks is that
they happened in London - meaning Putin’s agents won’t even tolerate dissent outside of Russia.
And soon enough, Vladimir Putin would go from hunter to hunted.
But Putin is notoriously secretive, rarely appearing in public. Even when he’s in meetings
with his inner circle, he often insists on being a safe distance from them - just in case anyone
thinks about returning to a common Soviet method of settling disputes with leadership.
It happened so often, in fact, that it became a running joke - if a Soviet citizen turns on
the TV and they’re playing Swan Lake instead of news and propaganda, the odds are there
has been an unexpected change in leadership. It’s no wonder that Putin, who has ambitions
of restoring much of the Soviet Union’s territory, also employs some of its tactics.
Which raises the question - how did we find out about the attempts on his life?
It started with an unusual source - the acclaimed filmmaker and notorious
conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone, who actually got to interview Putin in 2017.
While asking the Russian President questions, Stone casually mentioned that Putin had survived
five assassination attempts - which probably wasn’t something that Putin intended to get out.
While no secret police bundled Stone off to the gulag, it probably didn’t
help the case of any of the journalists who wanted to get interviews after that.
But Putin has been making close escapes for over twenty years now.
It all started in February 2000, not long after Putin took power. While attending the funeral of
the former Mayor of Saint Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak, Putin suddenly came under attack.
Not many details are known of this attack - because Putin keeps them close to his
chest - but what is known is that his security team quickly intervened and kept him safe.
More ominously, when asked about this at a later date, the Federal Guard Service’s
press secretary would only comment that they had identified the organization behind the attack.
Which meant it wasn’t a lone wolf attack - and more attacks were likely coming.
They wouldn’t have to wait long, only August of the same year - and on a much bigger scale.
Putin was attending a summit of the former Soviet nations at Yalta - many of whom were
likely worried that the Russian bear was looking to reclaim its old territory.
But in the grand Soviet tradition, the reports didn’t come out immediately - it
would be weeks before anyone even revealed that an assassination attempt took place,
and even longer before it was revealed that the attempt was against Putin.
But once the details came out, everything fell into place.
The Commonwealth of Independent States gathering brought a lot of grievances to the table, but one
issue that wasn’t on the table was the situation of the Chechens - a Russian Muslim minority group
that had long been pushing for independence. Russia had cracked down on them multiple times
- and that brought a group of radicals to the summit. Ultimately, four Chechens were arrested
and a number of Middle Eastern nationals with them - but that was about all we know, because the
documents were classified. It seems these plotters were arrested without ever getting close to Putin.
But the same can’t be said for later plots.
If you ask the Russian security services for more information, the answer would probably be
a solid “Nyet!”, which is why much of this information comes from third-hand sources
much after the fact. But the higher-profile the attempt, the harder it is to keep a lid
on the incident. That was the case in January 2002, when Putin was getting
ready to visit the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan. While Putin wasn’t there yet,
his security forces were - and it turned out that they knew more than the Azeri security forces did.
Which makes you wonder - what else did they know about their former subject state?
The Azeri leaders didn’t have time to ponder that - there was an assassination to foil!
And this one was an international affair.
The main subject of the investigation was an Iraqi citizen, and tracking him showed
he had been working with both Chechen rebels and agents from Afghanistan. They had been planning to
deliver a large number of explosives - likely to be deployed against Putin during his visit - but
once again they never got close enough to pull it off. The plotters were arrested,
with at least one being sentenced to ten years in prison, and Putin’s eventual visit went
off without a hitch - something the Azeris were likely even happier about than he was.
But not all the plots were this competent or elaborate.
It was ten months after the Azerbaijan plot was foiled when a threat came very
close to Putin - but it was far from a competent terror assult.
Like something out of an action movie - or at least the Russian bootleg. A man drove into
the Kremlin complex and demanded to address Putin personally. His name was Ivan Zaitsev,
and he had a bizarre claim - he thought he was the legitimate President of Russia. Was this
some long-lost descendent of the Romanovs, or a Soviet loyalist next in the line of succession?
No, it was just a crazy person - but that’s where the story got wilder.
Zaitsev was quickly arrested and bundled off to the nearest psychiatric hospital for observation.
While there, he continued to make one wild claim after another - including that this
was the second time he had tried to get close to Putin? His motivation? He thought
Putin was a secret Nazi who was planning to turn Russia into a fascist state - which
some might say wasn’t that far off. But he also claimed to be an undercover spy
and that he was avenging the beheading death of his brother years ago - and he planned to
cut Putin’s head off as a trophy. No evidence was found of any of these claims, but Putin’s
security forces no doubt made sure that Zaitsev wouldn’t be getting a third chance to get close.
As time went on and Putin tightened his grip on Russia, the attacks would get more serious.
It was only a few months later when Putin was heading back to the Kremlin headquarters.
A group of workers showed up at the highway leading up to the complex, announcing that
they had been hired to install new signs. Except that the work had not been ordered by the city,
and soon the area was swarming with police. What they found was shocking - forty kilos
of explosives, timed to detonate when Putin’s motorcade would be passing.
It was the most competent attempt on Putin’s life yet, and came dangerously close to succeeding. Not
that most people would know it - the explosives were quickly removed, the plotters were no doubt
tracked down, and soon the Russian government would insist that the whole affair never happened.
But Putin’s security didn’t do enough to keep it from happening again.
Assassination attempts on Putin seem to be a yearly affair in Russia - and if
he stays in power, who knows, it might become a tradition.
Someone dressed up as a plotter pulls it off, and is foiled by the actors playing the police,
while the street vendors sell the spectators pierogies. There wouldn’t be much difference
between the success rate of the plotters and the actors, because they seem to be foiled constantly.
In 2003, a plotter used the same tactic as the previous plotter - bombs by the side of the
road where Putin was supposed to be passing. This time, though, the bomb was a small pipe bomb-like
object hidden in a bag, and it’s unlikely it would have ever exploded. When asked for more details,
such as if a culprit had ever been found, the Russian authorities once again said “Nyet!”.
But as time went on, the plotters started to get smarter.
It was 2008, after a relative era of peace, and Putin was planning to leave
office - for another office. His long-time ally Dmitry Medvedev was ascending to the
office of President as Putin stepped down to become the new Prime Minister - his old
office. Many assumed this was a way for him to maintain power behind the scenes.
But some people would rather neither be in power, and they decided to take
action. While the two were walking in the area surrounding the Kremlin, no doubt
discussing their plans for Russia, a sniper struck - reportedly firing at them. However,
the security presence was able to protect the two politicians and neutralize the threat.
Once again, the identity of the shooter and their eventual fate is unknown.
But old enemies were about to strike again.
It was 2012 - and sure enough, Putin was President again. The laws involving term
limits had been changed, and Putin had taken back his old office from Medvedev
and now looked to rule indefinitely. And the Chechen radicals who had plotted against him
before knew that likely meant bad things for them. Once again they planned the often-tried
tactic of a roadside bomb - and once again they were foiled. Like with the other attempts,
the security team got a tip and took action before the bomb was detonated - and just like
those other tries, the Russian authorities remained tight-lipped about the details of
the plot, but it’s likely the Chechen areas where the attackers came from felt the impact.
At least eight attacks, none of them successful. What is Vladimir Putin’s secret?
Not only did none of the attackers kill Putin, none of them even managed to injure him or get
particularly close to him. Each time, it felt like the attackers were running behind the eight-ball,
with the Russian security forces knowing where they would be and neutralizing them
before there was even a disruption. Ironically, the closest anyone got to actually creating a
major incident was the fabulist Ivan Zaitsev, whose wild stories and unpredictable behavior
likely made him much harder to track than the organized plotters.
And the failure rate comes down to a number of factors.
For one thing, Russian security is good. Very good. While much of Russia’s military is made
up of conscripts mostly consisting of draftees who are often poorly trained and underfed,
the security team is the best of the best. The Russian Presidential Regiment is all armed and
trained in unarmed combat, and they patrol the Kremlin relentlessly. The massive guard
towers surrounding the complex let them see a full range around the area. The regiment
has strict entry requirements, only those with excellent eyesight and hearing are excepted.
One benchmark potential members are tested on is being able to hear a whisper from up
to twenty feet away. They’re also put through rigorous fitness tests and need
to match a certain height and weird to be considered suitable to protect Putin.
But it’s not just the security team.
Putin is a paranoid man - but his paranoia is not unfounded. He wanted advice from someone who had
as much reason to fear assassination as him - if not more - and so he went to an old friend of the
Russian regime. The elderly dictator Fidel Castro, who had ruled Cuba for close to half a century by
the time Putin took power, had been targeted more than six hundred times for assassination,
all unsuccessful. Some of these attempts were by domestic enemies, and some were by foreign
governments - including the United States, which once took aim at him with exploding cigars.
So it’s no surprise he was very paranoid.
In the interview with Oliver Stone, Putin reminisced about his conversation with Castro.
And the old Cuban revolutionary had one key bit of advice - don’t be afraid to be a control
freak. Castro claimed that he was always the one to personally deal with his security forces,
hand-picking them and promoting or dismissing them when he felt like it.
This gave no one on the outside the chance to influence them and sabotage the leader’s security.
The result? A security team that looks a lot more like a private army only loyal to one man
rather than the large organization of the US Secret Service.
But it’s possible for this to go too far.
There are some national leaders who keep an even tighter grip on their country than
Putin - and the odds are he looks at the leadership of North Korea and goes “Dude,
lighten up”. Run since its founding in the 1940s by one family over three generations,
their security forces are trained to fend off enemies both from the general public and from
ambitious agents in the government who may think they could run things better than the son of the
previous leader. Which is why the security system in North Korea looks a little more like a cult
than a government agency. Like Russia, they have a conscript army - but unlike in Russia,
being selected for the leader’s personal security team means cutting ties with your old life.
Members of the team are never allowed to have contact with their family again,
because Kim Jong-Un wants them to have loyalty to only one person.
Russia doesn’t go that far - but his security team are no slouches themselves.
In addition to physical skill, everyone who works for Putin’s security team is
highly trained in psychological profiling. They’re not, however, trained to fade into
the background - the training for Russian bodyguards is much more offensively-focused
than for the Secret Service. If something even appears to be a possible threat,
they’re supposed to take action hard and fast, and their responsibilities extend well beyond
assassins. They’re supposed to be so thorough, in fact, that their duties begin months before
Putin is supposed to appear at a location. They’re also all under age thirty-five and
trained to speak multiple languages - preparing them to protect Putin effectively when abroad.
In some ways, they’re more like spies than bodyguards.
If your country is supposed to be hosting Putin, the odds are you won’t even know they’re there.
They’ll simply make their way in, usually without much fanfare and only with a few people in the
know, to start scouting the area. This will involve looking for any signs of criminal
activity or social unrest, as well as the presence of known enemies of Putin. These
issues will usually be shared with the local government so they can coordinate - if the
Russians trust them. Beyond that, the security will be observing infrastructure issues,
looking for potential weak points. Putin likes to have everything under control, and that includes
planning for what would happen if a natural disaster strikes during his visit. So if any
super-spies are packing an earthquake device in their next attempt, the odds aren’t great.
But if all the preparation fails, Putin is anything but defenseless.
When he’s appearing in public, Putin is typically protected by four squads. The first is his visible
security detail. They’re all armed, ready to both take a bullet - and fire a lot of them if needed.
This group is Putin’s first line of defense, similar to the ones that protect the President,
and they have only the best gear - including a pistol that can fire forty rounds a minute.
But many people who observe them notice that they don’t actually seem to do much. They’re
a constant presence, but they seem to take action less often than other Presidential security teams.
That’s because they don’t have to.
For every visible squad guarding Putin, there are three other squads backing them up - and they’re
largely invisible. One is in plain clothes and is assigned to blend in with the crowd,
looking for any unusual movements towards the Russian President. If they see something,
they’ll strike and take down the assailant without them expecting it.
Another group stands outside the crowd, undercover but armed and ready to strike
if someone gets past the first two lines of defense. And in the event of a larger threat,
a team of armed snipers keeps watch from the sky, ready to shoot down any attacker.
But not all of Putin’s lines of defenses are armed.
It’s revenge of the nerds, Russian-style - because one of Putin’s biggest secret weapons is his IT
team. Today, many assassination attempts are pulled off digitally, with bombs being
detonated remotely while hacking is used to confirm the location of the target. That’s
why Putin’s security team commonly places jamming devices around his location, blocking cell phone
operations and keeping remote-controlled bombs or drones from being used in the area. It also
has the side effect of letting the government spy on any electronic device in the area,
exposing assassination plots - or anyone saying something the government disapproves
of. An invasion of privacy? Probably - but don’t say that when Putin and his men are listening.
And if someone gets too close, Putin has fail-safes in place.
Not only does Putin have this highly-trained security forces,
but there is usually a convoy of armed vehicles stationed around,
ready to swoop in with backup and extract him from the situation at a moment’s notice - and maybe
plow through a hostile crowd if needed. Back at the Kremlin, Putin has some guards with their own
unique - and both tasty and terrifying - duties. It’s a tradition going back to medieval times,
but the need for it hasn’t lessened. Food tasters sample every meal Putin eats before he digs in,
and so far no one has tried to poison him - that we know of.
But one other x-factor may protect Putin from assassination attempts.
It was 2017, five years after one of the botched attempts against Putin’s life.
While it’s not known if the culprits were ever found, one of the top suspects was Chechen radical
Adam Osmayev. He had been arrested in Ukraine, but due to a lack of evidence was never charged - and
Ukraine refused to extradite him to Russia. He was eventually released, and one day he
and his wife were near a railroad crossing when a mysterious assassin shot them both,
killing his wife and wounding Osmayev. Was it a message from Russia? If it was,
they’re not saying - but everyone knows Putin has a long-lasting memory,
and if you target him and fail, the odds are good that his security apparatus will
come for you no matter how long it takes. And he doesn’t care who gets caught in the crossfire.
But now, those threats may be ramping up.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine changed everything in the conversation about Vladimir Putin,
and that included who’s talking about taking him out. While previously,
only local radicals and the occasional crazy man were thinking about it,
now US Senators like Lindsay Graham are openly talking about assassination. While most countries
were staying out of the fray - especially once Putin casually reminded everyone how many nuclear
weapons Russia has - there’s no doubt that his security forces are likely tightening their grip.
So what does it look like now?
It’s hard to tell, because Putin’s control over Russia is only getting stronger. A combination
of sanctions and stricter laws means most foreign media is heading for the exits.
Netflix pulled the plug on their service in Russia due to a new law that stated they would have to
carry Russian propaganda channels. Netflix doesn’t have channels, so we’re guessing that Putin
probably isn’t a fan of streaming content and may not be up on the latest lingo. But all indications
from those reporting from the inside are that Putin’s paranoia and isolation have only deepened.
And that means the biggest threat to him may be coming from within.
Could Putin’s own inner circle be plotting against him? Early indications are that he, at least,
may think so. As the war in Ukraine drags on and Russian forces lose massive numbers of soldiers -
with some even being captured and appearing on TV to condemn the invasion - Putin gets increasingly
desperate. The country is under massive sanctions that have basically kneecapped their economy,
and Russia has reportedly been forced to ask for military aid from China to keep the invasion
going. This has led many people to compare him to Hitler in the dying days of the war.
Is Putin trying to prevent his own Operation Valkyrie?
Reports out of Russia are that Putin has fired or even arrested many of his top generals and
security advisors. Some have been placed under house arrest, some have fled the country,
and others have just not been heard from in a while. Many of his oligarch friends have found
themselves personally sanctioned - even losing their massive yachts - and had no choice but
to return home to Russia. There, it’s entirely possible that all these powerful businessmen
might decide that Putin’s gone too far and needs to be removed - by any means possible.
But that is becoming more and more unlikely.
As the war rages on and the bad news grows for Russia, the odds are that more attempts
on Putin’s life might come. But for those who try, they might find themselves facing
increasingly long odds. Not only is Putin appearing in public less and less,
but the list of people who get to see him in the Kremlin is getting smaller and smaller.
Even his closest advisors find themselves kept at arm’s length - or the length of
the longest table they can find. And anyone plotting an attack knows that if they fail,
it’s not just their fate at risk - it could be their family’s, or even their whole country’s.
And in a building that is starting to look a lot more like a fortress,
Vladimir Putin waits for his enemies to make their next move.
Want to know how it all began?
Check out “How Vladimir Putin Went From KGB Agent to President of Russia”,
or watch “These Memes Will Get You Arrested in Russia” for the lighter side of life under Putin.