The British newspaper The Times reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin is obsessed with fear for his personal safety (paranoia), and that he lives isolated from the world, and his knowledge of reality is very distorted.

A Russian intelligence officer named Gleb Karakulov, who he says fled the country because he says he was tired of guarding Putin, the complicated procedures to protect him and the war in Ukraine, told stories of how to protect the Russian president.

Karakulov fled to Turkey from Kazakhstan when he was accompanying Putin during a visit to the former Soviet state last October, where his duties included providing Putin with encrypted communications.

Isolated and far from reality

Karakulov, 35, a captain in the Russian Federal Guard responsible for Putin's security, spoke of the Russian leader's isolation and distance from senior state officials and thus his distance from reality.

Karakulov, believed to be the highest-ranking member of Russia's special services who has defected since the start of the war, revealed that during his visit to Kazakhstan last year, Putin set up a safe line in a bomb shelter at the Russian embassy in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Karakulov confirmed suspicions that Putin was secretly operating from similar offices in several residences across Russia as a security measure. In some cases, he said, Putin was shown holding meetings at his residence in Novo-Ugaryovo, near Moscow, but in fact he was in Sochi, a Black Sea tourist city.

The Kremlin still applies strict measures to protect Putin from coronavirus (French)

He adds that when Putin was in Sochi, Federal Guard officers were deliberately pretending that he was leaving, bringing a plane, and setting off a motorcade, "This is a trick to confuse foreign intelligence in the first place, and secondly to prevent any attempts to assassinate him."

Continued COVID-19 protection measures

Karakolov revealed that the Kremlin is still implementing strict measures to protect Putin from the coronavirus, adding that everyone is confused about why this continues; "I know that all the president's aides are doing PCR tests several times a day so far."

The report drew attention to information published last year that cancer specialists had visited Putin at least 35 times in four years, that he had resorted to bathing with the blood of small reindeer horns, a traditional remedy in Russia's Altai region, and that he had also been seen limping apparently on a number of occasions.

His health is better than many

However, Karakulov said there were no indications that the Russian president was terminally ill or suffering from any serious health problems, and said he was healthier than many other people his age, adding that only two business trips had been canceled due to his health in more than a decade.

Karakulov went on to say that Putin is a strong consumer of his own propaganda, insisting that there be Russian television everywhere he lives, not using the internet or mobile phone, but only receiving information from his closest circle.

Karakulov, who fled with his wife and young daughter, said he decided to leave Russia because he could no longer serve Putin, whom he described as a "war criminal."