This is a report by European intelligence agencies, which this American media outlet has had access to.
Chefs, bodyguards and photographers who work with Putin are also banned from using public transport, the dossier says. Visitors to the Kremlin chief must undergo a double security check, and those working near him are only allowed to use phones without internet access.
Some of the measures were introduced in recent months after the assassination of a senior general in December, which sparked a row at the top of Russia's security apparatus, the report said. They reflect growing concerns within the Kremlin as it grapples with mounting problems at home and abroad, including economic difficulties, growing signs of discontent and setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Russian security officials have significantly reduced the number of locations Putin regularly visits, the report said. He and his family have stopped going to their usual residences in the Moscow region and to Valdai, the president's secluded summer residence between St. Petersburg and the capital.
He has not yet visited any military facilities this year, the report said, despite frequent trips throughout 2025. To circumvent these restrictions, the Kremlin is releasing pre-recorded footage of him to the public, it added.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has also been spending weeks in improvised bunkers, often in Krasnodar, a coastal region on the Black Sea, a few hours from Moscow.
The dossier, which was provided to CNN and other media outlets by a source close to a European intelligence agency, comes at a time of growing perception of crisis surrounding the Kremlin, four years after the start of the brutal and unsuccessful war.
Russia's losses, estimated by Western countries at around 30,000 killed and wounded per month, coupled with limited territorial gains on the front and repeated Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside Russia, have driven the cost of the conflict to a level many consider unsustainable.
The economic cost of the war is now apparent, and the mobile network outages that regularly hit major cities are causing anger even among the pro-Putin bourgeoisie, further reinforcing the feeling that the war is starting to affect the urban elite, who have so far been largely insulated from the consequences of the invasion.
The report provides a rare glimpse into Moscow's concerns about deteriorating internal security. It also reveals potentially embarrassing details about a conflict within Russia's security and military leadership over who is responsible for protecting senior officers - which reportedly prompted a review of Putin's security protocols and the expansion of enhanced protection to 10 more senior commanders.
The report states that since early March 2026, the Kremlin and Putin himself have been concerned about the possible leakage of sensitive information, as well as the risk of a conspiracy or coup attempt against the Russian president.
“He is particularly wary of the possibility of drones being used for assassination by members of the Russian political elite,” the report said.
The most interesting conclusion concerns Putin's former close associate, Sergei Shoigu.
The former defense minister, who is now the secretary of the Security Council, is associated with a coup risk because he still has significant influence at the top of the military command, the report said.
It added that the arrest of Shoigu's former deputy and close associate, Ruslan Calikov, on March 5 is seen as a violation of tacit protection agreements among elites, which weakens Shoigu and increases the likelihood that he himself could become the target of a judicial investigation.
Russia's Investigative Committee said in March that Calikov had been arrested on charges of embezzlement, money laundering and bribery. Reports of corruption in the military leadership are common, but have multiplied since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Putin has already survived an attempted coup in June 2023, when mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led a failed march on Moscow.
Putin began isolating himself during the COVID-19 pandemic, often sitting at the end of a long table opposite high-ranking guests, until ordering the invasion in February 2022. Reports suggest he uses the same office layout in multiple locations from which he addresses the cabinet via video link.
It is rare for Western intelligence agencies to publish detailed reports on confidential assessments of enemy actors, likely gathered from human or electronic sources, the disclosure of which could compromise those sources.
Yet their publication may reflect an effort by European officials to capitalize on what critics argue has long been their main strategy for defeating Russia in Ukraine – waiting for its internal collapse.
