The Telegram channel, which previously reported that Putin suffers from many health problems, reports that Putin is preparing to flee Russia if he is defeated in Ukraine, the report claims. “The Russian dictator is aware of the possibility of a sharp change in the mood in the country.” According to the plans, Putin will fly through Turkish airspace
Vladimir Putin and his friends are making preparations to flee Russia if his army is defeated in Ukraine, according to the Telegram channel, which claims its sources come from within the Kremlin. When his forces fail in the Donbas region, and Ukraine prepares to recapture Kherson and its economy crumbles, the Russian dictator is “aware of the possibility of a sharp change in the mood in the country.”
The General SVR channel on Telegram reported last week that the 69-year-old Putin suffered from ‘severe nausea’ with doctors at his bedside for about three hours. Further to that report, they claim that Putin himself and his entourage are preparing plans for evacuation from Russia. Any plane carrying Putin and his family out of Russia is expected to head to Syria, the closest friendly country, and whose leader, Bashar al-Assad, Putin supported Assad by intervening in the Syrian civil war in 2015. However, any flight from Russia to Syria would have to go through the airspace of NATO member Turkey.
But if the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, refuses to give permission for the plane carrying Putin and his family to enter his airspace, this will effectively eliminate the Russian dictator’s fastest and perhaps only escape route. Erdogan and Putin have a complex relationship, having been friends and foes at various times over the past decade, with each leader trying to navigate his country through a challenging geopolitical neighborhood.
In addition, Iran is another regional power – and a Western enemy that will be interested in Putin’s fate. “In principle, it is beneficial for Iran and Turkey to keep the Russian president in exile, using him, depending on the situation, as leverage or a bargaining chip,” the channel said. Earlier this month, Putin met with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in Tehran, ostensibly to discuss Syria.