Paranoid Vladimir Putin has stepped up his personal security amid fears he will launch a bloody purge against suspected plotters after last week’s uprising in Russia.
Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the abandoned rebellion, is said to be a “dead man walking” after going into exile in Belarus.
Some of Putin’s defence officials who may be suspected of being too close to the mercenary leader could also soon be “disappeared”, sources claim.
A number of senior Wagner Group executives and a handful of oligarchs have also been earmarked for the Russian president’s hit squads, it is believed.
A western security source told the Mirror: “There is an increasing belief that Prigozhin will be gone in months, if not sooner, and many others as well.
“He was allowed to go to Belarus to shut him up. It is possible he’ll be allowed to get comfortable in Minsk then be dealt with, as Putin has a great deal of leverage with the Belarus authorities.
“But we also believe some of the oligarchs may have been aware of what Prigozhin was doing.
“They may have even supported it and then removed that support at some point.
“Many senior people in Russia have disappeared or fallen out of hotel windows before the war in Ukraine and during it. In the coming days and weeks we are likely to see more of this activity.
“A lot of people are now very scared and Putin is determined to wipe out any hint of insurrection, while desperately trying to mend the cracks in his strongman image.”
Putin is thought to be spending more time isolated, guarded by his inner guard corps, the Federal Protection Service.
The elite secret service-style unit are his most loyal troops and are descended from the Ninth Directorate of the KGB, which he served in.
