On October 14, a Russian engineer named Gleb Karakulov boarded a flight from Kazakhstan to Turkey with his wife and daughter, possibly leaving life in Russia.

However, this deserter was not a random Russian worker. Karakulov was officer of the elite secret security service of the President of RussiaVladimir Putin and one of them several privates with a sensitive role and knowledge of the personal details of his life the president and potentially classified information.

Karakulov, who was responsible for the security of communications, named the reasons for the moral rejection of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as fears for his life, which forced him to speak out. He says he hopes his actions will inspire other Russians.

“Our president has become a war criminal. It’s time to end this war and stop being silent“, He said.

Karakulov’s description is consistent with others that characterize the Russian president as a once-charismatic but increasingly isolated leader who he does not use a cell phone or the internet, insists on watching state television wherever he goes, prefers to avoid flying and travels in a specially designed armored train.

“A serious blow for Putin”

But in addition to the new information he shared about Putin and his life, Karakulov shared his opinion about his decision to defect without even telling his mother, who remains a staunch supporter of Putin.

According to a NATO security official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, desertions like Karakulov “are of great interest.” “This can be considered a very serious blow. for the President of Russia himself, because he is extremely concerned about his security, and his security has been exposed. This is something that he (Putin) would not be too happy about. Especially if this report concerns communications, on which a lot depends,” he adds.

As an engineer in the presidential communications division of the Federal Security Service (FSO), Karakulov was responsible for organizing secure communications for the president and prime minister of Russia, wherever they went. Although he was not a confidant of Putin himself, he spent years in his service in an extremely close relationship from 2009 to 2022.

He, his wife and their daughter are in an underground room and for security reasons it is not possible to talk to them directly.

Dossier Centera London-based investigative organization founded by Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky interviewed Karakolulov several times, giving access to more than six hours of video and text to the Associated Press, Swedish TV SVT, Danish and Norwegian TV channels DR and NRK, respectively.

The Dossier Center confirmed the authenticity of Karakulov’s passport, as well as his official ID of the FSO, including.

“Putin is afraid”

Unlike the Russian prime minister, Putin does not require secure Internet access during his travels. For all my service I have never seen him with a cell phone.. He receives all the information from people close to him. So he lives in some kind of information vacuum,” he says.

Karakulov accompanied him to luxurious hotels for meetings and conferences, to a resort in Cuba, to yachts, and also on a train specially converted for his travels. According to him, the train looks like any other from the outside, so it goes unnoticed. According to Karakulov, Putin prefers to travel in the privacy of a “common” train, as the plane can be seen. “I understand that he is just scared,” she says.

Gleb Karakulov is the highest-ranking intelligence officer in recent Russian history who defected to the West.
He gave an interview to the magazine @dossier_centerwhere he talked about his work, how he escaped from Russia and talked about his personal experience of working with Putinhttps://t.co/1ZlBEDDu59

— Mikhail Khodorkovsky (English) (@mbk_center) April 4, 2023

According to him, Putin opened the same offices in different regions, with an exact copy of the device and decoration, so that when he claims to be in one place, he is not disturbed in another. For example, when he was in Sochi, his security forces leaked that he was leaving, showing the motorcade and the plane as a cover to escape, although in fact he remained in Sochi.

“The guys talked about it and laughed. I think that this is an attempt, on the one hand, to confuse the special services, and on the other hand, to prevent any assassination attempts, ”he says.

The Dossier website notes that Karakulov is the highest-ranking intelligence officer since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, who left the country and condemned the war. Karakulov he is wanted in Russia and a case of desertion has been initiated against him.

Source: Associated Press.