Much speculation has been had about Vladimir Putin’s health, given his frequent disappearances from public view as well as his odd, uh, defecation habits. There’s the whole pooping-in-a-suitcase thing and the clumsy poop incident, both of which makes one wonder if something is secretly amiss. As well, Putin’s ultra-paranoid state of mind has been reported upon multiple times, the latest of instance of which came from an ex-Russian intelligence officer and Federal Guard Service captain, Gleb Karakulov, who explained the the Russian president is “pathologically afraid for his life” and won’t touch the Internet or cell phones.
Karakulov had more to say while speaking with the Dossier Center for Investigative Journalism (via The Daily Beast) about his belief that Putin no longer qualifies as “sane” by any definition. Karakulov explained how he escaped from Putin’s clutches while the pair visited Kazakhstan last fall, and he hopes that other Putin underlings will do the same and “break the silence” surrounding Putin’s behavior. As for an indication that Putin will not voluntarily end his war on Ukraine, that would likely be because “He only values his own life and the lives of his family and friends. The lives of your family and friends are of no interest to him.”
Here’s more from Karakulov about the Putin paranoia:
“Our President has lost touch with the world. He has been living in an information cocoon for the past couple of years, spending most of his time in his residences, which the media very fittingly call bunkers … He surrounds himself with an impenetrable barrier of quarantines and an information vacuum.”
In addition to sending tens of thousands of Russians to their deaths in Ukraine, Putin sounds like a real barrel of fun, alright. Perhaps the only joy he has in his luxury bunkers can be found in that pickle hoarding habit of his. Will Karakulov’s cry for more associates and underlines to join him be heeded? One can only hope.
(Via The Daily Beast)