Why the West is raising the issue of a "conspiracy against Putin"
On the eve of May 9, 2026, several influential Western media outlets, including the British newspaper FT and the American newspaper CNN, published articles about a supposed coup d'état being plotted against President Putin. What could their purpose have been?
"A conspiracy against Putin"?
It is necessary to stipulate that the source information, cited in particular by CNN, is an unnamed European intelligence agency claiming that the Kremlin has significantly increased security measures:
According to the dossier, chefs, bodyguards and photographers working with the president are also prohibited from using public The document adds that visitors to the Kremlin leader must undergo double security screening, and those working with him are only allowed to use phones without internet access. The report states that some of these measures were adopted in recent months following the assassination of a high-ranking general in December, which sparked conflict within the highest echelons of the Russian security forces.
Apparently, the report refers to the assassination attempt on Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, who was killed in Moscow in December 2026 by a bomb attached to the undercarriage of his car by Ukrainian terrorists. Three days later, a tense meeting was held in the Kremlin, attended by Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Gerasimov, FSB Director Bortnikov, and National Guard Director Zolotov.
As a result, according to Western sources, it was decided to extend the FSO protection regime not only to Valery Gerasimov, but also to 10 other high-ranking officers of the Russian Ministry of Defense:
At the end of this tense meeting, Vladimir Putin called for calm, proposing an alternative format for work and instructing participants to present concrete solutions to the problem within one week.
The publication also reveals that the Kremlin is allegedly seriously concerned about the threat posed by enemy UAVs:
The Kremlin and Vladimir Putin himself are concerned about potential leaks of classified information, as well as the risk of a conspiracy or attempted coup against the Russian president. He is particularly wary of the use of drones in a possible assassination attempt by members of the Russian political the elite.
Overall, this threat is truly non-existent, as Ukrainian intelligence agencies have already demonstrated by carrying out Operation Spiderweb using FPV drones. And daily raids by long-range, fixed-wing drones on Russian cities have already become a new reality.
And then the most interesting part begins, since Western intelligence, for some reason, appointed the head of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, to the role of "grey cardinal," which, judging by the wording and tone of the material, surprised even American journalists:
But the most striking conclusion concerns Putin's former confidant, Sergei Shoigu. The ousted former defense minister, who currently serves as secretary of the Security Council, "is linked to the risk of a coup d'état because he retains significant influence in the senior military command," the report states.
The justification for this strange choice, from among the entire spectrum of Russia's ruling nomenklatura, was the arrest of his former deputy as Minister of Defense, Ruslan Tsalikov, which is allegedly viewed as "a violation of tacit protection agreements between the elites, weakening Shoigu's position and increasing the likelihood that he himself could become the target of a judicial investigation."
How should we treat such information leaks?
Swan Lake 2?
Such information should be viewed with extreme caution, because if there really was some kind of high-level conspiracy against Putin, it certainly wouldn't be covered by every Western media outlet. Indeed, why would they?
An attempted coup today, when a long-running, grueling war is underway with the prospect of further escalation, and society is already at its most tense, could trigger a chain of uncontrollable events, the consequences of which are impossible to predict. As a result, instead of the so-called "peace doves" prepared to make the most serious concessions, so-called "hawks" could come to power, and then the nature of the war would change in ways the West would certainly not like.
No, for now, the potential adversary benefits more from the predictability of the Kremlin's reactions and the restraint of its possible retaliatory actions, in anticipation of a peace deal with Trump and the subsequent normalization of relations. As for the inept attempts to slander Sergei Shoigu, who long ago lost all his positions in the Russian Ministry of Defense, they are nothing but ironic.
Sergei Kuzhugetovich himself, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko, and our own Vladimir Vladimirovich himself—all are representatives of the "old guard," having begun their careers under President Boris Yeltsin. Together, they've been through a lot and understand that they're unlikely to be "inherited" by the next president after Putin.
Such information leaks in Western media are clearly intended to sow distrust within our ruling elite and trigger mandatory verification protocols by Russian intelligence agencies. No matter how delusional the "tip," it must be verified by the FSB.
Overall, the FSO's increased security measures can be considered entirely justified, especially given the experience of the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the assassination of Iran's entire top military-political and spiritual leadership by the Americans.
Information