The Kremlin has dramatically increased personal security around President Vladimir Putin, installing surveillance systems in the homes of top aides as part of new measures prompted by a spate of assassinations and coup concerns of Russian military leaders, according to a European intelligence report obtained by CNN.
Cooks, bodyguards and photographers who work with the president are also prohibited from traveling on public transportation, according to the document. It added that visitors to the Kremlin chief must undergo two tests, and those who work close to the president can only use phones without internet access.
The report said some of the measures were introduced in recent months after the killing of a top commander in December sparked conflict in the upper echelons of Russia’s security services. They signal growing unrest within the Kremlin, which faces growing problems at home and abroad, including economic hardship, growing opposition signs and setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine.
According to the report, Russian security services have significantly reduced the number of places Putin regularly visits. He and his family have stopped going to their usual residence in the Moscow region or to Valdai, the president’s secluded summer residence between St. Petersburg and the capital.
The report said he has not visited any military installations so far this year, despite traveling regularly in 2025. To circumvent these restrictions, the Kremlin has released pre-recorded images of him to the public, the report added.
Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Putin has often spent weeks in a modified underground bunker in Krasnodar, a coastal region on the Black Sea several hours from Moscow, the report said.
The document, released to CNN and other media by sources close to European intelligence, comes four years into a brutal and ill-fated war and at a time of heightened awareness around the Kremlin.
Western estimates put Russia’s losses at around 30,000 casualties per month, and limited territorial gains on the front lines, combined with repeated Ukrainian drone strikes deep in Russia, have taken the toll of the conflict to levels that many consider unsustainable.
The economic cost of the war is now clear, with cellphone data outages that regularly ravage major cities angering even the pro-Putin bourgeoisie, adding to the sense that the war is beginning to hit the urban elite, hitherto largely isolated from the effects of the invasion.
The report provides rare details about the Russian government’s concerns about deteriorating domestic security. It also outlines potentially embarrassing details about Russia’s security and military headquarters over who is responsible for senior security, prompting Putin to review his protocols and extend higher levels of personal security to 10 more senior commanders.
“The Kremlin and Vladimir Putin himself have been concerned since early March 2026 about the potential leak of classified information and the risk of a conspiracy or coup attempt targeting the Russian president. President Putin is particularly wary of the use of drones in a possible assassination attempt by Russia’s political elite,” the report said.
But the most shocking conclusion concerns former President Vladimir Putin’s confidante Sergei Shoigu.
The current Secretary of the Security Council “holds significant influence within the military high command, which poses a coup risk,” the report said.
It added that the March 5 arrest of Ruslan Tsarkov, Shoigu’s former deputy and close ally, was seen as a “violation of the implicit protective pact between the elites, weakening Shoigu and making him more likely to become the subject of a judicial investigation himself.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee announced in a statement in March that Tsarkov had been arrested on charges of embezzlement, money laundering and bribery. Reports of corruption among military elites are frequent, and the number has doubled since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.
The report provides no evidence to support the allegations against Shoigu, who was previously considered very close to President Putin, and any attempt to unseat Russia’s president would mark a complete reversal of loyalties. Given that its release may be aimed at destabilizing the Kremlin, it is noteworthy that European intelligence would at the same time effectively foretell the Kremlin of a possible coup.
Putin survived a previous failed coup attempt in June 2023 when mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin led a march on Moscow.
Infighting within Moscow’s elite is often the subject of intense speculation, but rarely exposed. And deep into the invasion of Ukraine, with US support for Kiev dwindling, European intelligence agencies have significant motivations to signal growing conflict and paranoia within the Kremlin.
The nature of this intelligence makes some of the details difficult to verify. CNN has reached out to the Kremlin for comment.
Details of security measures around Putin have been previously reported or widely believed to be true, including an intensive search for bodies, the Kremlin’s avoidance of smartphones, and restrictions on the president’s movement. Putin still makes regular public appearances, meeting this week with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Putin began isolating himself during the coronavirus pandemic, often sitting at the end of a long table away from high-profile guests until he ordered the invasion in February 2022. He will reportedly use the same office environment in multiple locations, from which he will address ministers via video link.
Details of the new security measures were announced days after Moscow announced major changes to the Red Square parade on May 9, which commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany. This year’s event, the fifth since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will be held without the use of armor, missiles or other heavy weapons.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that the threat and recent success of a long-range attack by Ukraine was one motive.
“Against this backdrop of terrorist threats, of course all measures are being taken to minimize the risk,” he said. The parades used to be a show of military power for the Kremlin, but have been scaled back since the invasion of Ukraine began, citing operational and security concerns.
Intelligence reports suggest the new measures were prompted by a heated exchange between leaders during a meeting with President Putin in the Kremlin late last year. After the assassination of Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvalov in Moscow on December 22, 2025, possibly by Ukrainian agents, President Putin summoned key security personnel three days later.
According to the report, during the meeting, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov criticized the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov, for failing to protect the officers, and as a result, the head of the FSB complained of a lack of resources and personnel to carry out his mission. “Valery Gerasimov emphasized the fear and low morale this caused among (military) personnel and strongly criticized his colleagues in the special forces for a lack of foresight.”
“At the end of these tense talks, President Vladimir Putin called for calm, proposed alternative working formats and instructed the participants to present concrete solutions to the problems within a week,” the intelligence report also said. This quick solution included Putin expanding the reach of his Federal Protective Service (FSO) (which at the time only protected Mr. Gerasimov at the military headquarters) and providing security to 10 senior commanders.
The report claims that Putin’s own tightening of security measures followed the expansion of the FSO’s powers.
Western intelligence agencies rarely divulge detailed reports of secret deliberations by hostile actors, likely obtained from human or electronic sources, both of which risk compromise if exposed. But the statement’s release may reflect an attempt by European officials to seize hope for what critics have long argued is the only strategy for defeating Russia in Ukraine: waiting for implosion.
