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The Kremlin has sharply increased personal security around Russian President Vladimir Putin after assassinations of senior Russian military figures and fears of a coup, according to a European intelligence report obtained by CNN.
The report says new measures include surveillance systems installed in the homes of close staffers, restrictions on public transport use for personnel who work with Putin, tighter screening for visitors, and limits on phones used by people near the Russian president.
The dossier, released to CNN and other media outlets by a source close to a European intelligence agency, comes as the Kremlin faces pressure from the war in Ukraine, economic strains, signs of dissent, and repeated Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia.
Russian security officials have drastically reduced the number of places Putin regularly visits, according to the report.
Putin and his family have stopped visiting their usual residences in the Moscow region and at Valdai, his secluded summer property between St. Petersburg and Moscow, the report said.
The report also said Putin has not visited a military facility so far this year, despite regular trips in 2025. To work around the restrictions, the Kremlin releases pre-recorded images of him to the public, it added.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Putin has also spent weeks at a time in upgraded bunkers, often in Krasnodar, a coastal region bordering the Black Sea, according to the report.
Putin is still regularly seen in public. This week, he met Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The report said cooks, bodyguards, and photographers who work with Putin are banned from using public transport.
Visitors to the Russian president must be screened twice, and those working close to him may only use phones without internet access, it added.
Some of the measures were introduced in recent months after the killing of a senior general in December, which the report said sparked a dispute among top officials in Russia’s security establishment.
The report also said a higher level of personal security was extended to 10 more senior commanders after the review of Putin’s protection protocols.
According to the report, since early March 2026, the Kremlin and Putin have been concerned about possible leaks of sensitive information and the risk of a plot or coup attempt targeting the Russian president.
The report said Putin is particularly wary of drones being used in a possible assassination attempt by members of Russia’s political elite.
The dossier also said Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s former defense minister and current secretary of the Security Council, is “associated with the risk of a coup” because he retains influence within the military high command.
The report said the March 5 arrest of Shoigu’s former deputy and close associate, Ruslan Tsalikov, was considered “a breach of the tacit protection agreements among elites,” weakening Shoigu and increasing the possibility that he could become the target of a judicial investigation.
Russia’s investigative committee said in March that Tsalikov had been arrested on charges linked to embezzlement, money laundering and bribery.
The report did not provide evidence to support the claims about Shoigu. CNN said it had approached the Kremlin for comment.
The report said a tense meeting with Putin and senior security officials in late 2025 helped trigger the new measures.
After the assassination of Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov in Moscow on Dec. 22, 2025, which the report said was presumably carried out by Ukrainian agents, Putin summoned senior security personnel three days later.
During the meeting, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov criticized Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov for failing to protect his officers, according to the report.
Bortnikov complained of a lack of resources and personnel to carry out the task, the report said.
“Emphasizing the fear and demoralization this has caused among personnel, Valeri Gerasimov strongly criticized his counterparts in the special services for their lack of foresight,” the report said.
The report said Putin called for calm at the end of the meeting and ordered participants to present solutions within one week.
The solution involved expanding the role of Putin’s Federal Protection Service, which had previously protected only Gerasimov in the military command, to cover 10 more senior commanders, according to the report.
The report comes as Russia faces rising costs from the war in Ukraine.
Western nations estimate Russian losses at around 30,000 dead and injured each month, while territorial gains on the front line have been limited.
Ukraine has also carried out repeated drone attacks deep inside Russia. In the early hours of Monday, a drone hit a high-rise apartment building in an upscale neighborhood of western central Moscow, according to local authorities and videos from the scene.
The economic cost of the war has also become more visible, including regular cellphone data outages in major cities that have angered even pro-Putin sections of the urban elite, according to the report.
The security details came days after Moscow announced changes to its May 9 Red Square parade, which marks victory over Nazi Germany.
This year’s event, the fifth since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, will take place without heavy weaponry such as armor and missiles.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to the threat and recent success of longer-range Ukrainian strikes as one reason for the changes.
“Against the backdrop of this terrorist threat,” Peskov said, “of course, all measures are being taken to minimize the danger.”
Previous parades had been displays of Kremlin military power, but they have been reduced since the start of the Ukraine invasion because of operational and security concerns.
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