Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian state TV today to denounce Russians who opposed his war with Ukraine as “scum” and “traitors.”
But behind the scenes, the dictator is increasingly paranoid and fears that someone in his inner circle will poison him, a new report says.
Daily Beast contributing editor Craig Copetas says he’s been told that Putin has people tasting his food before he eats it and that last month, he replaced his entire personal staff of 1,000 people.
“Laundresses, secretaries, cooks — to a whole new group of people. The assessment from the intelligence community is that he’s scared,” Copetas said.
Copetas says that the preferred method of assassination in Russia is poison.
Putin should know — it’s believed his agents killed outspoken critic Alexander Litvinenko by spiking a pot of tea with radioactive poison in 2006.
And in 2018, authorities say Putin’s henchmen sprayed deadly poison on the front door of former spy Sergei Skripal. He and his daughter narrowly escaped death.
Putin also allegedly ordered the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. He survived, but is now languishing in a Russian jail.
