{"id":1289,"date":"2026-07-11T12:34:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=1289"},"modified":"2026-07-11T12:34:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:34:34","slug":"putin-has-800-security-personnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/putin-has-800-security-personnel\/","title":{"rendered":"PUTIN HAS 800 SECURITY PERSONNEL   &#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-is-first=\"true\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA24QlMl\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA27EbOj&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsworld&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;National Security Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AA1BA4Xu&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Putin just added 27 drone pilots to his last line of bodyguards \u2014 the Kremlin fears assassination by its own elite&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA24QlMl\"><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA27EbOj&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsworld&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;National Security Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AA1BA4Xu&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Putin just added 27 drone pilots to his last line of bodyguards \u2014 the Kremlin fears assassination by its own elite&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Putin In Airplane Simulator Russian Government Photo\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA24QlMl.img?w=534&amp;h=300&amp;m=6\" alt=\"Putin In Airplane Simulator Russian Government Photo\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><span class=\"image-caption\">Putin In Airplane Simulator Russian Government Photo<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The July 1944 bombing that nearly took the life of Nazi Germany\u2019s dictator, Adolf Hitler, was the last of some 40 attempts to eliminate him.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">What kept any of those plots from succeeding was a set of practices that made his movements unpredictable \u2013 last-minute changes in schedules and destinations \u2013 and an ever-increasing army of protective services that were always around him.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA1C9M7F\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA27EbOj&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsworld&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;National Security Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AA1BA4Xu&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Putin just added 27 drone pilots to his last line of bodyguards \u2014 the Kremlin fears assassination by its own elite&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA1C9M7F\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA27EbOj&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsworld&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;National Security Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AA1BA4Xu&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Putin just added 27 drone pilots to his last line of bodyguards \u2014 the Kremlin fears assassination by its own elite&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Putin with a Rifle. Image Credit: Russian State Media.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1C9M7F.img?w=534&amp;h=300&amp;m=6&amp;x=790&amp;y=124&amp;s=110&amp;d=110\" alt=\"Putin with a Rifle. Image Credit: Russian State Media.\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><span class=\"image-caption\">Putin with a Rifle. Image Credit: Russian State Media.<\/span><span class=\"image-attribution image-attribution-ux-impr\">\u00a9\u00a0Putin with a Rifle. Image Credit: Russian State Media.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">These lessons have not been lost on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Among other adjustments, he has recently increased the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/world-news\/2026\/07\/01\/paranoid-putin-increases-personal-security-to-800-officers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">innermost circle of his security detail<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the &#8220;last line of defense&#8221; of a hurricane-force architecture of multiple, interlocking layers of bodyguards and palace militia \u2013 to more than 800 persons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"continue-read-break\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">One of the characteristics that all dictators have in common is that they all have some \u201calphabet agency\u201d elite security formation that is supposed to take care of the ruler of the nation first, and everyone and everything come second or third \u2013 and to also kill anyone who threatens the \u201cgreat leader.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">In one of the most repressive and murderous times in Russian history, the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was protected by the NKVD.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Its current-day successor is the Russian FSB, which\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsecurityjournal.org\/russians-are-quietly-asking-their-own-search-engine-when-putins-war-will-end-and-the-searches-just-hit-an-all-time-high\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">Putin<\/a>\u00a0served as director in the 1990s. Hitler had his Gestapo, and Eric Honecker \u2013 the long-time East German communist party chief &#8211; had the Stasi.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-image-slot image-slot-placeholder\" data-doc-id=\"cms\/api\/amp\/image\/AA1Jlfwr\">\n<div class=\"article-image-slot\">\n<div class=\"article-image-container polished\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModal&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;b&quot;:8,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA27EbOj&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsworld&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;National Security Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AA1BA4Xu&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Putin just added 27 drone pilots to his last line of bodyguards \u2014 the Kremlin fears assassination by its own elite&quot;}\" data-test-id=\"AA1Jlfwr\">\n<div><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"article-image-height-wrapper expandable article-image-height-wrapper-new\" data-customhandled=\"true\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;OpenModalButton&quot;,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.i&quot;:&quot;AA27EbOj&quot;,&quot;c.l&quot;:false,&quot;c.t&quot;:13,&quot;c.v&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.c&quot;:&quot;newsworld&quot;,&quot;c.b&quot;:&quot;National Security Journal&quot;,&quot;c.bi&quot;:&quot;AA1BA4Xu&quot;,&quot;c.tv&quot;:&quot;news&quot;,&quot;c.tc&quot;:&quot;general&quot;,&quot;c.hl&quot;:&quot;Putin just added 27 drone pilots to his last line of bodyguards \u2014 the Kremlin fears assassination by its own elite&quot;}\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"article-image article-image-ux-impr article-image-new expandable\" title=\"Putin on Direct Line Back in 2019. Image Credit: Creative Commons.\" src=\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AA1Jlfwr.img?w=534&amp;h=300&amp;m=6&amp;x=514&amp;y=230&amp;s=315&amp;d=315\" alt=\"Putin on Direct Line Back in 2019. Image Credit: Creative Commons.\" \/><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-caption-container image-caption-container-ux-impr articlewc-image-caption-container\"><span class=\"image-caption\">Putin on Direct Line Back in 2019. Image Credit: Creative Commons.<\/span><span class=\"image-attribution image-attribution-ux-impr\">\u00a9\u00a0Putin on Direct Line Back in 2019. Image Credit: Creative Commons.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"article-sub-heading\"><strong>States Within a State<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Today, some of the most pervasive analogs of these entities are the Supreme Guard Command, which protects\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsecurityjournal.org\/north-korea-sent-soldiers-and-arms-to-russia-for-the-ukraine-war-putin-helped-kim-jong-un-build-nuclear-weapons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">North Korean leader Kim Jong Un<\/a>, and the Central Security Bureau, which guards the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC) Communist Party leader,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsecurityjournal.org\/is-chinas-xi-jinping-facing-a-coup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">Xi Jinping<\/a>. Every supreme leader has to have one.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">As a profile of Putin\u2019s increasingly paranoid demeanor in The Daily Telegraph published this week points out, as these dictators fall under pressure or become convinced of threats to their position, these security services encourage and benefit from their leaders\u2019 paranoia.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">They \u201cbecome a state within a state, putting millions under surveillance, giving credence to the sniping and jealousies of each informant, and listing the originators as anti-state activists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The dictator becomes trapped in a vicious cycle of his own making, and \u201cperpetual personal security becomes an obsession,\u201d reads the profile.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The Stasi, which\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsecurityjournal.org\/putin-has-a-problem-ukraines-new-flamingo-missile-can-fly-3100-miles-with-a-one-ton-warhead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">Putin<\/a>\u00a0became so close to during the Cold War period\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/world-nation\/story\/2023-06-15\/russia-putin-early-kgb-years-east-germany-helped-shape-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">when he was posted to the East German city of Dresden<\/a>\u00a0is an extreme example.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Including all its part-time informers, \u201cthe East German secret police is reckoned to have employed one secret policeman for every 6.5 East Germans. By comparison, Hitler\u2019s Gestapo deployed one per 2,000 people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Since Putin is as fearful or not more \u201cthan Hitler was of any threat to his regime, he hopes that technology and his many overlapping security organisations will neutralise any opposition,\u201d reads The Telegraph article.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article-sub-heading\"><strong>Wary of Plots<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">In March 2026, the Amsterdam-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) flagged what it had identified as a high-level alert in the Kremlin that had assessed \u201cthe risk of a plot or coup attempt against the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsecurityjournal.org\/ukraines-strikes-were-meant-to-push-putin-to-talk-instead-the-kremlin-says-theres-only-one-path-left-escalation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">Russian president<\/a>. In particular, the fear of drones for a possible assassination attempt by members of the Russian political elite\u201d.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The formation created by Putin, at the top of the security pyramid that serves and protects him and his inner circle, is the 50,000-strong\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbth.com\/politics_and_society\/2016\/06\/01\/putins-people-the-mysterious-agency-that-guards-the-presidents-life_599181\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">Federal Protective Service (FSO)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The innermost unit is a handpicked, politically reliable force that was recently announced to have increased from 785 operatives to 812. The reason for the increase is suspected to have been the addition of a new detachment of 27 first-rate\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nationalsecurityjournal.org\/something-hit-near-moscow-that-was-too-big-and-too-fast-to-be-a-drone-and-russia-quietly-deleted-its-own-statement-about-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;destination&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:1,&quot;c.t&quot;:7}\">drone<\/a>\u00a0pilots.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">With the issuance of this high-level alert, there were immediate orders that staff working near Putin be banned from traveling on public transport or using mobile phones.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Mobile network signals are now jammed when he is anywhere in the vicinity, and his key staff are issued with Kevlar umbrellas.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">Putin also employs up to a dozen body doubles and has several identically furnished offices in Moscow, St Petersburg, his various dachas, and aboard his train.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">These identical and multiple \u201cfilm sets\u201d are used by him regularly so that no one ever knows his true location.<\/p>\n<p data-t=\"{&quot;n&quot;:&quot;blueLinks&quot;,&quot;t&quot;:13,&quot;a&quot;:&quot;click&quot;,&quot;b&quot;:76}\">The parallels are striking. As a consequence of the elaborate deceptions as to his true whereabouts and the endless security measures, \u201cthe F\u00fchrer became a raving, deluded old man who hid in bunkers and, nine months later, died in one.\u201d Putin, concludes the profile, \u201cappears to be heading in the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Putin In Airplane Simulator Russian Government Photo The July 1944 bombing that nearly took the life of Nazi Germany\u2019s dictator, Adolf Hitler, was the last of some 40 attempts to eliminate him. What kept any of those plots from succeeding was a set of practices that made his movements unpredictable \u2013 last-minute changes in schedules [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-putins-assets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1290,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1289\/revisions\/1290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}