Russian defector sheds light on Putin paranoia and his secret train network

A senior Russian security officer who defected last year has given rare insight into the paranoid lifestyle of Vladimir Putin, confirming details of a secret train network, identical offices in different cities, a strict personal quarantine and escalating security protocols.

The Guardian has reviewed an interview with Karakulov by the Dossier Centre, a political information outfit founded by the exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and confirmed the credentials of the senior Russian communications engineer, who travelled with Putin extensively and helped transmit some of his most secret messages.

Karakulov also described setting up secret communications for Putin on planes, helicopters, lavish yachts and even in a bomb shelter at the Russian embassy in Kazakhstan during an October 2022 visit when Karakulov ultimately fled to Turkey and from there to an undisclosed country in the west.

Putin is still in quarantine and requires all staff working in the same room as him to also undergo a two-week quarantine, severely limiting the number of people who have personal contact with him.

He claimed he had opposed the war on Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, but had waited to persuade his wife to flee together as a family. He said he had still not spoken with his parents, who were supporters of the war.

While the strict quarantine regime has fuelled rumours that Putin may be seriously ill and worried about complications from coronavirus, Karakulov said he had seen no indications that Putin was in poor health.