Vladimir Putin ‘is hiding in a secret underground nuclear bunker’

Evidence has emerged that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his high command are hiding in bunkers east of Moscow amid fears of nuclear war.

New ‘evidence’ has emerged that Vladimir Putin and his high command are based some or all the time in top secret nuclear bunkers as the bloody war unfolds in Ukraine.

Movements of planes used by top Kremlin officials show Putin may be in a hideaway near Surgut in western Siberia, it is claimed.

His Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu – who has been mysteriously absent for several weeks sparking rumours about his health – is believed to be in a bunker near Ufa in the Urals, 725 miles (1166 km) east of Moscow, said investigative journalist Christo Grozev.

This theory is backed by his daughter Ksenia Shoigu, 31, visiting Ufa – where she was pictured – for perhaps three days from 22 March as speculation was rife that the defence minister had suffered heart problems.

She also abruptly barred public access to her Instagram where she had posed with her baby in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine.

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Sergei Shoigu pictured at a meeting on implementation of state defence order. Picture: East 2 West News.

Ksenia Shoigu. daughter of Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu pictured on March 22-23 visit to Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan. Picture: East 2 West News.

Previous reports claimed Putin’s family had been sent to a secret underground bunker beneath the Altai Mountains (Altayskoye Podvorie resort pictured)

The use of the high security bunkers – if confirmed – would be alarming.

There has been ongoing concerns that Moscow’s military strategy in Ukraine could include the use of nuclear weapons in some way.

Although, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told American media on Monday that “No one is thinking about using … even about the idea of using nuclear weapons”.

Grozev – who has links to British investigative outlet Bellingcat – said: “I am absolutely sure that Shoigu is in a bunker.

“Tracking the movement of his plane, we see very frequent flights to Ufa.

“Knowing that there are also protected bunkers in this region, this gives an obvious answer about his place of residence.”

Abandoned Soviet bunker in Nizhnevartovsk. Picture: East 2 West News.

Abandoned Soviet bunker in Surgut. Picture: East 2 West News.

In an interview with Ukraine-24 channel, he told TV anchor Yevgeny Kiselyov: “This is our very justified version.

“I believe in it, and I consider it to be a purely analytical conclusion.

“There can’t be any other conclusion.

“If the Kremlin’s war strategy assumes a nuclear strike … then there cannot be any other version.

“If there is a decision of a potential nuclear strike, they can’t hide the military leadership afterwards.

“They have to be hidden beforehand.

“I am absolutely certain he is in a so-called bunker, and by trailing the plane he usually flies, we see very frequent, almost daily flights to Ufa.

“Knowing this region has those very protected bunkers this leads us to the obvious conclusion. “He believed Putin had another bunker elsewhere.

“Most likely he is elsewhere, because we are seeing other flights, and they are more classified than the flight that goes to Ufa.

“These are state planes, and they switch off their transponders somewhere around Surgut.”

Christo Grozev, Bulgarian investigative journalist, speaks to Yevgeny Kiselyov about Shoigu and Putin bunkers live on Ukraine 24 TV channel.

This is Russia’s oil capital and is some 1,800 miles (2896 km) northeast of Moscow.

“It looks like the final phase is quite secretive, and most likely there is a more elite bunker there, with the elite of the government.”

Previously there have been claims Putin had moved his close relatives to a bunker in the Altai Mountains, some 1,100 miles (1770 km) southeast of Surgut and 2,360 miles (3800 km) east of Moscow.

Grozev also suggested that Russia’s Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, is operating from a bunker.

Coincidentally, the defence minister’s daughter Ksenia Shoigu seems to have been in Ufa for between 22 and 25 March.

“Today we are in Ufa, on a working visit,” she posted on her Telegram channel on 22 March.

Local newspapers reported that the financier was visiting “at the personal invitation of the head of region on 24 and 25 March”.

She is president of the Russian Triathlon Federation, and promotes a charity called the Hero League.

She visited the Patriot military-patriotic park under construction near Ufa.

One theory is that Putin took time out in the pandemic in November or December 2020 when he visited Sarov and laster Tobolsk – which is several hundred miles from Surgut – to inspect emergency bunkers.