Vladimir Putin has moved his family to a secret Siberian underground bunker that could survive a nuclear war, an expert claims.
According to Professor Valery Solovey, 61, the Russian president has hidden his family away in a luxury hi-tech bunker likened to an "underground city".
It is said to be buried beneath a sprawling estate in the Altayskoye Podvorie resort in the Altai Mountains.
It comes as Putin wages a brutal war against Ukraine that has killed thousands, including many Russians.
Prof Solovey is a former employee of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations - and has previously alleged that Putin suffers from hidden medical problems.
He also claimed the Kremlin boss had taken part in bizarre secret shamanic rituals with his defence minister Sergey Shoigu.
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Many in Moscow dismiss Solovey as a conspiracy theorist, but despite this he was questioned for seven hours by Russian authorities last week.
The interrogation happened after allegations he made about Putin’s medical and mental health on a Telegram channel he operates.
Russian police searched his home and seized a number of electronic items and the case remains open even after Solovey was released.
In a video Solovey said: “At the weekend, President Putin's family was evacuated to a special bunker prepared in case of nuclear war.
“This bunker is located in the [mountainous] Altai Republic.
“In fact, it is not a bunker, but a whole underground city, equipped with the latest science and technology.”
He warned: “I hope this means something to you, that the President sends his family to this bunker.”
The supposed bunker lies below a home that reportedly belongs to Putin in the area.
Observers have claimed that the property has multiple ventilation points in the ground around it.
On top of that a high voltage line linking it to an ultra-modern 110 kilovolt substation, enough to power a city.
During construction of the second-home German tunnel diggers were reported to have been at the site.
Solovey did not identify which family members Putin had supposedly sent to the bunker, but previously alleged that Olympic gold-winning rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 38, is Putin’s secret child.
Last year, he said: “This is his real family, and Alina is capable of influencing his decisions.”
Putin has two adult daughters, Maria Vorontsova, 36, a geneticist, and Katerina Tikhonova, 35, a dancer-turned-mathematician.
He also reportedly has a secret love child called Luiza Rozova, an 18-year-old also known as Elizaveta Krivonogikh, from a previous relationship with cleaner-turned-millionaire Svetlana Krivonogikh, 45, who is now part-owner of a state-run Russian bank.
Putin has previously said: “I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.”
He slammed “those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives”.
