On Oct. 14, a Russian engineer named Gleb Karakulov boarded a flight from Kazakhstan to Turkey together with his spouse and daughter. He switched off his telephone to close out the crescendo of pressing, enraged messages, stated goodbye to his life in Russia and tried to calm his fast-beating coronary heart.
However this was no extraordinary Russian defector. Karakulov was an officer in President Vladimir Putin’s secretive elite private safety service — one of many few Russians to flee and go public who’ve rank, in addition to data of intimate particulars of Putin’s life and probably labeled info.
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Karakulov, who was answerable for safe communications, stated ethical opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his worry of dying there drove him to talk out, regardless of the dangers to himself and his household. He stated he hoped to encourage different Russians to talk out additionally.
“Our president has turn into a battle felony,” he stated. “It’s time to finish this battle and cease being silent.”
Karakulov’s account typically conforms with others that paint the Russian president as a as soon as charismatic however more and more remoted chief, who doesn’t use a cellphone or the web and insists on entry to Russian state tv wherever he goes. He additionally supplied new particulars about how Putin’s paranoia seems to have deepened since his determination to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Putin now prefers to keep away from airplanes and journey on a particular armored prepare, he stated, and he ordered a bunker on the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan outfitted with a safe communications line in October — the primary time Karakulov had ever fielded such a request.
Together with info on Putin, Karakulov’s testimony affords an intimate view of 1 man’s determination to defect — with out telling his personal mom, who he stated stays a robust Putin supporter. It raises vital questions on how deep the Russian public’s acceptance of the battle runs, and the way Putin’s opponents within the West and past may leverage any silent opposition.
Whereas not talking instantly about his case, an official with a safety background from a NATO nation stated a defection like Karakulov’s “has a really nice degree of curiosity.” He spoke on situation of anonymity to debate delicate political issues.
“That may be seen as a really critical blow to the president himself as a result of he’s extraordinarily eager on his safety, and his safety is compromised,” he stated. “That’s one thing that he could be very sad about — significantly if the compromise is to do with communications, upon which an incredible deal depends.”
PUTIN IS ‘SIMPLY AFRAID’
As an engineer in a subject unit of the presidential communications division of the Federal Protecting Service, or FSO, Karakulov was answerable for organising safe communications for the Russian president and prime minister wherever they went. Whereas he was not a confidant of Putin’s, Karakulov spent years in his service, observing him from unusually shut quarters from 2009 via late 2022.
Karakulov, his spouse and his little one have gone underground, and it was inconceivable to talk with them instantly resulting from safety constraints.
The File Middle, a London-based investigative group funded by Russian opposition determine Mikhail Khodorkovsky, interviewed Karakulov a number of occasions and shared video and transcripts of greater than six hours of these interviews with The Related Press, in addition to the Danish Broadcasting Company DR, Swedish Tv SVT, and the Norwegian Broadcasting Company NRK. The File Middle confirmed the authenticity of Karakulov’s passport and FSO work id card, and cross-checked particulars of his biography towards Russian authorities data, leaked private knowledge and social media postings.
The Related Press reviewed the supplies from the File Middle and independently confirmed Karakulov’s id with three sources within the U.S. and Europe, who weren’t approved to talk publicly. AP additionally independently corroborated private particulars, together with Karakulov’s passport numbers, date and hometown, two registered addresses, and the names and ages of relations, however was unable to confirm particulars of his defection.
AP additionally confirmed that Karakulov is listed as a wished man within the Russian Inside Ministry’s public database of felony suspects. The Inside Ministry initiated a felony investigation towards Karakulov on Oct. 26 for desertion throughout a time of navy mobilization, in line with paperwork obtained by the File Middle and seen by the AP.
The FSO is likely one of the most secretive branches of Russia’s safety companies.
“Even once they give up, they by no means speak, however they know numerous particulars of the personal lifetime of the president and the prime minister,” stated Katya Hakim, a senior researcher on the File Middle.
The Kremlin didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Karakulov moved as a part of an advance staff, typically with sufficient specialised communications gear to fill a KAMAZ truck. He stated he has taken greater than 180 journeys with the Russian president, and opposite to widespread hypothesis, Putin seems to be in higher form than most individuals his age. Putin has solely canceled a number of journeys resulting from sickness and has annual medical checkups, he stated.
In contrast to the prime minister, Putin doesn’t require safe web entry on his journeys, Karakulov stated.
“In all my service, I’ve by no means seen him with a cell phone,” he stated. “All the knowledge he receives is simply from folks near him. That’s, he lives in a type of info vacuum.”
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Karakulov’s work introduced him to luxurious motels for summits, seashore resorts in Cuba, yachts — and aboard a particular armored prepare outfitted for the Russian president.
Putin’s prepare seems to be like every other, painted grey with a purple stripe to mix in with different railway carriages in Russia. Putin didn’t like the truth that airplanes might be tracked, preferring the stealth of a nondescript prepare automotive, Karakulov stated.
“I perceive that he’s merely afraid,” he stated.
Putin started to make use of the prepare frequently within the run-up to the February 2022 invasion, Karakulov stated. Even final yr, Putin continued to insist on strict anti-COVID measures, and FSO workers took shifts in two-week quarantine so there would at all times be a pool of individuals cleared to journey with Putin on the prepare, he stated.
Putin has arrange similar workplaces in a number of places, with matching particulars all the way down to the desk and wall hangings, and official experiences typically say he’s one place when he’s truly in one other, in line with Karakulov and prior reporting by a Russian media outlet. When Putin was in Sochi, safety officers would intentionally fake he was leaving, bringing in a airplane and sending off a motorcade, when he was in reality staying, Karakulov stated.
“The fellows would speak about this, actually laughing,” he stated. “I feel that that is an try to confuse, first, intelligence, and second, in order that there are not any assassination makes an attempt.”
FACES OF WARRIORS
Karakulov’s defection was a shocking flip for a household steeped in patriotic navy custom.
Born in Dagestan, Karakulov was raised to be prepared for battle, believing it was his sacred obligation to defend his homeland. After graduating from a navy academy, he discovered his method into the FSO.
“To be near the president — it sounded fairly cool,” he stated.
Karakulov’s father is a former navy man, who has labored as an expert photographer, amongst different jobs. He’s engaged on a mission he calls “Faces of Warriors,” a sequence of chic, hagiographic portraits of Russian troopers and veterans.
Karakulov’s brother is an area authorities official, data present, and served as the purpose particular person for a regional, government-backed mission dedicated to “civic patriotism” and honoring “Heroes of the Fatherland.”
Karakulov’s job launched him to a world past his household. At the same time as his father and brother marched in patriotic navy parades, his personal doubts deepened. He’s horrified to assume that he may also be rallying across the letter Z in assist of the battle in Ukraine if his job hadn’t taught him to see via the lies of Russian state tv.
“Because of my work within the FSO, I’ve seen how info is distorted,” he stated.
He additionally started to query the conspicuous spending of Russia’s prime leaders. He stated he noticed officers convene giant delegations at luxurious resorts that value extra every evening than his month-to-month wage. They’d all attend a quick assembly after which hang around for per week, he stated.
“If that is from the price range, then the query is, ‘Is it not an excessive amount of to spend this type of cash on one particular person?’” he stated. “If it’s not from the price range, then it’s whole corruption.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a breaking level, he stated. He informed his spouse he wished out. He didn’t need their younger daughter brainwashed in preschool, the place kids have been doing patriotic salutes and being informed about bombs.
“This isn’t the long run I would really like for my little one,” he stated.
With Russia’s September mobilization drive, Karakulov realized that if he give up his job, he was prone to be drafted right into a battle he didn’t wish to battle. However even when he stayed, he might get despatched to the entrance.
He realized that a few of his colleagues had been dispatched to Ukraine and killed. He noticed photographs of FSO crews destroyed by Ukrainian rockets, with dozens seemingly useless.
He was outraged that nobody in Russia acknowledged these deaths.
“There’s no details about them,” Karakulov stated. “What have been they doing there? Why did they find yourself there? Why did they die there?”
The one conversations he had have been with colleagues who appeared to relish the battle. He imagined others should share his views, however he had no solution to discover them.
“They merely can’t even open their mouths,” he stated.
Karakulov stated he couldn’t inform his dad and mom about his disillusionment both, as a result of their minds had been molded by years of watching Russian state tv.
Because the battle streamed in on the night information, his dad and mom appeared to savor the view from the entrance. He discovered it insufferable and requested his mom to show off the TV. She refused.
He stated he tried to elucidate to her that Ukraine is an impartial nation, however she instantly lower him off. “What is that this?” she stated to him. “You wish to run away? Are you some type of overseas agent?”
He by no means informed them he was leaving.
In October, a sequence of official conferences in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, gave Karakulov his probability to run away. He and his spouse packed their lives into three suitcases. He flew out Oct. 6 with the remainder of his staff. His spouse and daughter joined two days later, staying in a separate resort.
However every day, Karakulov discovered another excuse to not go.
On the final day of the delegation, Oct. 14, he realized he couldn’t postpone any longer. His spouse collected his suitcase from his resort room to keep away from elevating suspicion. He slipped away after lunch, telling colleagues that he was heading out to purchase souvenirs.
He climbed in a taxi together with his spouse and daughter and set off for the airport round 3 p.m.
“From then on, it was solely a matter of my very own nerves,” he stated.
He bought via check-in and began getting messages from colleagues asking the place he was. The flight was delayed by an hour. He might really feel a distant fury constructing towards him. By 5 p.m., he figured folks had began to search for him.
“You scumbag,” learn one message.
Fifteen minutes earlier than takeoff, he switched off his telephone.
His spouse was very upset. They spent the 5 1/2-hour flight ready for one thing to go improper.
Once they lastly cleared passport management in Turkey, Karakulov stated it was like an incredible stone had fallen from his soul.
He stated he is aware of many individuals will accuse him of being unpatriotic, however he disagrees.
“Patriotism is while you love your nation,” he stated. “On this case, our homeland must be saved, as a result of one thing loopy and horrible is occurring in our nation. We have to repair this.”
THE PRICE OF DISSENT
What the long run holds for Karakulov — and anybody who may dare to comply with in his footsteps — is way from clear.
He was not the one one who wished out.
On Sept. 27, days after Russia’s mobilization, an engineer at a regional FSO middle in Siberia named Mikhail Zhilin snuck via the forest throughout the border to Kazakhstan. Many Russians fled to Kazakhstan to keep away from the draft, however the authorities refused Zhilin’s request for asylum and despatched him again to Russia. On March 20, a Russian court docket sentenced him to six 1/2 years in a penal colony.
Abbas Gallyamov, a Russian political analyst now dwelling in Israel who was a speechwriter for Putin from 2000 to 2001 and once more from 2008 to 2010, stated he believes nearly all of Russia’s elites secretly oppose Putin’s battle. He added that if the West had supplied them an exit technique as an alternative of sanctions, extra might need left.
“They’re all shocked,” he stated. “From their perspective, there was no motive to do that as a result of all the things was okay … now swiftly, all the things collapsed. … We’re enemies of the world.”
Gallyamov, like Karakulov, is on the wished record of Russia’s Inside Ministry. He stated a defection like Karakulov’s is a specific blow as a result of the FSO is sort of a “royal elite” above different navy and safety buildings in Russia, charged with defending the state’s most valuable asset: Putin himself.
“They are going to be very offended,” he stated. “There might be hysterics.”
Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow on the Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace, stated Russian public opinion concerning the battle is split however there’s little house for public dissent, particularly for folks working inside the system.
“The rule is that the elite stick with Putin,” she stated.
Those that do depart Russia typically pay a worth to maintain their conscience clear.
Boris Bondarev, a profession Russian diplomat in Geneva, give up in Might and denounced the battle.
Talking from an undisclosed location in Switzerland, Bondarev informed the AP he’s dwelling as a political refugee on a authorities allowance, with safety constraints he’d relatively depart “intentionally ambiguous.” He can’t discover a job and has needed to transfer residences a number of occasions, for each monetary and security causes. He can’t journey freely — not even to satisfy a reporter for a cup of espresso on the town.
“I despatched my CVs to dozens of assume tanks within the U.S., within the U.Okay., in Europe, and most have been ignored,” he stated. “I bought a number of solutions that ‘sorry, however we have already got Russia specialists.’”
He stated there are many Russians who quietly oppose the battle however don’t dare communicate out, for worry of shedding their livelihoods. A number of colleagues who give up Russia’s International Ministry after he did contacted him for recommendation. They have been having hassle discovering work. One returned to Moscow as a result of he couldn’t make a dwelling exterior of Russia, he stated.
Bondarev stated he typically has second ideas when he sees footage of individuals consuming out at good eating places in Moscow, dwelling the type of good life he can now not afford.
However then he remembers the value: brainwashing, propaganda, hypocrisy.
“I might come to my workplace at 9 and depart at 6 p.m. and in between I must produce quite a few papers explaining why Ukraine attacked Russia,” he stated. “I don’t need it. No, no, I can’t complain at present. … I reside very, very properly.”