Security measures of unprecedented severity have been introduced in the Kremlin in recent weeks as Russian President Vladimir Putin braces for a possible coup or assassination attempt, according to a report by an intelligence agency of an EU country.
The document, obtained by Important Stories – the Russian investigative outlet and long-standing partner of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) – states that the Kremlin has been on “high alert” since the beginning of March 2026 over “the risk of a plot or coup attempt against the Russian president”.
“In particular,” the report adds, “he fears the use of drones for a possible assassination attempt by members of the Russian political elite.”
It identifies Sergei Shoigu, the former defence minister who now serves as Secretary of the Security Council, as a “potential destabilising actor”.
The intelligence assessment also describes a tense meeting convened by Mr Putin following the killing of a lieutenant general in Moscow on 22 December 2025. At the gathering, senior security officials reportedly traded blame for the failure to prevent the attack.
Staff working in close proximity to the president have been banned from using mobile phones or travelling on public transport, the report says. The Federal Protective Service (FSO), which guards Russia’s top officials, has installed surveillance systems in the homes of cooks, photographers and bodyguards. Mr Putin and his family have reportedly stopped visiting their residences in the Moscow region, and the president has made no public appearances at military sites this year.
Important Stories said it had independently corroborated several of the document’s claims, including the assertion that the FSO – rather than the FSB security service – was behind recent large-scale internet shutdowns in Moscow. A former FSB officer had already told the outlet earlier this year that responsibility for the blackouts lay with the FSO.
A serving FSB officer also confirmed to reporters that his unit was struggling to obtain authorisation for wiretaps in criminal investigations because “all the equipment has been redirected to monitor the government and other state bodies”.
The heightened paranoia comes against a backdrop of military setbacks in Russia’s war on Ukraine and mounting economic difficulties at home. For the first time in years, the Victory Day parade in central Moscow on 9 May will feature no heavy military vehicles – a decision the Kremlin has attributed to the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes.
The annual celebration, which Mr Putin has sought to portray as a continuation of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, will also be attended by an unusually small number of high-level foreign dignitaries.
Signs of domestic discontent have begun to surface on social media, with Russians expressing anger over the repeated blocking of mobile internet services and sharp rises in prices.
Important Stories published the full text of the intelligence report, citing the public interest and its partial corroboration of the claims. Roman Anin, the outlet’s publisher, described the revelations as “one of the most important pieces of news about Russia in recent times”.
“We are witnessing the transition of the Russian regime into a fundamentally different state,” he wrote.
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