Behind the scenes, the Kremlin leadership apparently believes a defeat in Ukraine and a fall of Putin is possible. An ex-speechwriter to the Russian President reports on preparations to exile the entire power clique in Venezuela.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin has been publicly confident of victory since the attack on Ukraine, confidants are probably already working out an escape plan in the event of defeat. This was revealed by a former speechwriter for the head of the Kremlin on his Telegram channel, as reported by Newsweek magazine. Abbas Galliamov, who also works as a political analyst, referred to a trustworthy source. She informed him that the Kremlin had been developing a backup plan since the spring that should take effect if the war is lost. It envisages the flight of Putin and his innermost circle of leaders to Venezuela.
“I don’t usually retell inside stories, but today I’m making an exception. First, I trust the source too much, and second, the information is very juicy,” Gallyamov wrote, according to the report. Unofficially, the project is called “Noah’s Ark”. Argentina and Venezuela are said to be among the top options for Putin’s escape at the moment, but China was also considered in the early stages of the talks.
“As the name Noah’s Ark suggests, it’s about finding new countries to go to if things get really uncomfortable in their home country,” Gallyamov wrote on Telegram, concluding: “The leader’s entourage does not close he’s going to lose the war, lose power and urgently need to be evacuated somewhere.”
Putin’s former speechwriter, who, according to the magazine, has lived in exile in Israel since 2018, gave more specific details: his source told him that Yury Kurilin, vice president and chief of staff of the Russian energy company Rosneft, is “the man on the ground” who does all of it Make arrangements for the evacuation of the Kremlin leadership to Venezuela. Unfortunately, his source did not know any further details, Gallyamov continued, adding mockingly: When they say in Russia that everything is going according to plan, it is necessary to clarify which plan is meant. “You seem to have more than one plan.” The Russian Foreign Ministry has so far not wanted to comment on a request from “Newsweek” for the exit plan.
