A defiant Vladimir Putin went out and about while not wearing a bulletproof vest – days after former President Donald Trump had a narrow miss.
It is the first time he has been seen since the Trump shooting, but also since his regime accused the US government of working on a bid to assassinate the Kremlin dictator.
Driving a Lada Aura – aimed at boosting sales of the Russian-made upscale sedan – Putin opted for short sleeves as he opened a new section of motorway in Tver region.
Putin was surrounded by a total of seven security guards as he staged the photo-opportunity on the M-11 highway linking Moscow and St Petersburg.
One security guard handed him his jacket as he emerged from the car – but observers noted there was no sign Putin was wearing a bulletproof vest, which he has previously been rumoured to wear.
His appearance comes after Putin has faced a new call to halt foreign trips because of a perceived threat of a Trump-style assassination bid.
A senior official from the Russian foreign ministry Maria Zakharova accused Kyiv of directly working on the assassination of 71-year-old Putin.
This followed weekend quotes from the head of Kyiv’s military intelligence agency – the GRU – that there had been unspecified failed attempts to assassinate Putin.
Lt General Kyrylo Budanov said: ‘They [assassination attempts] were made, but, as you can see, they were unsuccessful so far.’
Zakharova alleged: ‘One of the leaders of the Kyiv regime, Budanov, openly admitted that Ukrainian intelligence was preparing attempts to take the life of the Russian President.’
Putin’s own spokesman Dmitry Peskov was forced to respond, saying: ‘All threats from the Kyiv regime are obvious. Therefore, the security of the first person [Putin] is ensured at the proper level.’
Staunchly pro-Kremlin military analyst Sergey Markov admitted: ‘Putin is the target. And not only for the SBU [Ukrainian security service] and the [GRU], but also for the intelligence services of the USA and Britain and dozens of intelligence services of the world subordinate to them.
‘This is why I believe that Putin should not make visits abroad at all, even to friendly countries.
‘Russia has not yet decided how to respond. And so far there is no response. And this only encourages the enemy to escalate.’
Putin has not directly spoken about the Trump shooting but his spokesman blamed the ‘atmosphere’ of US politics caused by the Biden administration for enabling the shooting.
It was “obvious” Donald Trump’s ‘life was in danger’ head of the shooting, he said.
’The atmosphere around candidate Trump… provoked what America is facing today,’ he said.
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