Russian intelligence agency investigating claims of plot to ‘remove’ Putin: report
Russian authorities are investigating an alleged plot to “depose” President Vladimir Putin after receiving a tip about a suspicious conversation at a karaoke bar, according to a report.
According to the VChK-OGPU On the Telegram channel, Russian security services spent several days searching for an employee of an unspecified law enforcement agency who was accused of involvement.
Citing an anonymous source, the Telegram account claims that the Russian Interior Ministry was alerted to a “secret conspiracy against the head of state” by a specialist from the presidential administration.
The specialist had reportedly received an early morning call from a 37-year-old man named Mikhail Yurchenko, who “worriedly” told them about a worrying conversation he had had at a karaoke club called Honey in the town of Chekhov, about 40 miles south , had led from Moscow.
At the club, Yurchenko reportedly had a long conversation “about the war and future life in Russia” with another man at the club. “At some point, according to Yurchenko, the interlocutor showed him a red badge and explained that his task was to ‘depose Vladimir Putin,’” reports VChK-OGPU.
Yurchenko allegedly did not see the details on the man’s ID card and could not remember his name. It’s worth noting that fake ID cards are available in the Russian capital, although VChK-OGPU also notes that this particular karaoke bar is known to be popular with employees of various agencies.
After Yurchenko was “plagued” by what he had heard, he decided to report the conversation. Based on his tip, “employees went to the karaoke club to investigate the situation,” the report said.
Putin is reported to be extremely paranoid about his security, which has become even more at risk since his invasion of Ukraine last year. In May, a senior Ukrainian intelligence commander spoke openly about using his spies to try to kill Putin. The surprising admission came just weeks after Moscow described a drone strike on the Kremlin as an “assassination attempt on the president of Russia” and a planned “terrorist attack.”
A month earlier, an explosives-laden drone crashed in a village near an industrial park outside Moscow, where Putin had reportedly planned to visit that same day. It is not clear whether it was a failed assassination attempt, as claimed by a Ukrainian activist who said that Kiev’s intelligence services had received information about Putin’s visit in the week before the drone was shot down.
