Putin has fled Moscow to bunker at his ‘secret palace’ after Wagner Group rebellion, claims anti-Vlad oligarch

AS an armed mutiny is taking place in southern Russia, President Vladimir Putin is rumoured to have fled Moscow for his St Petersburg bunker. Exiled Putin foe and businessman Leonid Nevzlin has claimed Putin, alongside his closest friends, are hiding in his Valdai mansion as Moscow remains under a terror alert. AFPIn a fierce address to Russia today, Putin slammed the Wagner groups activities as treason[/caption] Putin is believed to have fled to the underground bunker near his Lake Valdai mansion ReutersWagner fighters have overtaken the southern Russian city of Rostov[/caption] Nevzlin said: “Putin is hiding in the bunker of his residence in Valdai. His closest friends and associates also flew there. “The dictator is in a panic. Additional troops advanced towards Valdai to protect it. This has just been reported by my sources.” The sprawling estate is located on the shore of a lake and nestled in deep forests of the Valdai Hills, which lie halfway between Moscow and St Petersburg in eastern Russia. His spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Putin was remaining in the Kremlin, working as Russian territory was being marched upon by Wagner soldiers. The country is feared to be on the cusp of a bloody civil war as fierce battles erupt between Putin’s troops and mercenaries from the Wagner Group in an extraordinary armed rebellion. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to “punish” Russia after he blamed the Kremlin for a deadly missile attack on one of his training camps in Bakhmut, Ukraine. The warlord – a former pal of Putin’s – has now led an armed rebellion with the stated aim to oust Russia’s military leaders as he turns on the top brass in Moscow. Putin raged “this is treason” in an astonishing early morning address to the nation on TV which showed he wasn’t backing down. Yet multiple sources claimed Putin’s presidential plane took off from Moscow earlier today, before turning off its tracker over eastern Russia. Peskov denied he had flown to his Valdai palace in St Petersburg on the private plane. The sprawling lakeside estate seen on drone footage includes a stable, golf course, mini-golf course, VIP restaurant with a cinema, bowling, billiard room and even a mini-casino. The complex is dubbed Putin’s “most secret official dacha”, and is thought to have a bunker. Other business jets were seen making an exodus from the capital towards St Petersburg and neighbouring countries. There was also a claim from Telegram channel General SVR that Putin’s fiends “almost without exception” were “preparing routes for relocation along with their relatives and friends”. Many have described Putin’s rumoured escape from Moscow as cowardice compared to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s famous video on the night war broke out in Ukraine. Zelensky said: “We’re all here. Our military is here. Citizens in society are here. We’re all here defending our independence, our country, and it will stay this way.” When offered a chance to evacuate Ukraine by the United States, Zelenskyy said: “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.” AlamyPutin gave a nationwide address earlier today regarding the developments near Rustov[/caption] AFPWagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin released videos from Wagner-held Rustov[/caption] The luxury property lies northeast of Moscow The dictator spends a lot of his time in the luxury property ReutersFighters of Wagner private mercenary group stand guard in a street near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer[/caption]