Putin's jet gets fighter escort: Insecurity or national defense?
8:49 AM EDT, June 19, 2024
Independent Russian portals report that Vladimir Putin has begun flying with fighter jet escorts. Ukrainian media, which picked up on this topic, in turn, reported that the Russian president is now afraid to fly even within his own country. Journalists noticed the fighter jet mentioned en route to North Korea.
Vladimir Putin arrived in Yakutia on Tuesday en route to North Korea. The TVN24 portal, citing Russian media, writes that recordings and photos on social media captured at least one fighter jet accompanying the government airplane with the president on board.
Russian military analyst Jan Matveyev explained in a conversation with journalists of this service that the video and photos show a Su-30 fighter jet.
The findings of the Agientstvo portal indicate that this is the first visually confirmed case since the beginning of the Russian armed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 when, during a visit within his own country, a plane with Putin on board was escorted by a military aircraft. Previously, this only happened outside the country’s borders, which Kremlin authorities explained was for security reasons.
Is Putin afraid to fly within his own country?
The Agientstvo editorial office reports that it analyzed state agencies and Telegram channels. It could not find any information about the president being escorted by fighter jets during visits to Russian cities.
TVN24 reminds us that Russian media regularly inform us about the fighter jets escorting Putin during international visits, including to Belarus in December 2022, November 2023, and this May, as well as during trips to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (also in May this year).
Ukrainian media, commenting on Agientstvo's reports, bluntly stated that "Putin is afraid to fly within his own country."
It's worth noting that Yakutia is located about 3,107 miles from the borders of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces do not possess weapons capable of targeting Russian airplanes from a distance. Earlier media also reported that during public events in his country, Putin wore a bulletproof vest.
