Former Kremlin security official: 'War criminal' Vladimir Putin has 'lost touch with the world'

Some of the most scathing criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine comes from Russian exiles and expatriates. They might be living in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn or Northeast Philadelphia — or perhaps in the Andalucía region of Spain. But wherever they have fled to, Putin's Russian critics typically slam him as an authoritarian who dashed their hopes that post-communist Russia would someday evolve into a liberal democracy.

One of Putin's Russian critics is a former ally: Gleb Karakulov, an ex-captain for the Russian Federal Guard Service (FGS). Karakulov, who defected from Russia in October 2022, discussed Putin's state of mind during a recent interview with The Dossier Center — a London-based group that is funded by Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Journalist Allison Quinn describes Karakulov's observations in an article published by the Daily Beast on April 4. According to Karakulov, Putin has become increasingly divorced from reality, is no longer "sane" and is much different from when they first met back in 2009.

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Karakulov told The Dossier Center, "Now, he has shut himself off from the world with all kinds of barriers, the quarantine, the information vacuum. His take on reality has become distorted. A sane person in the 21st Century, who looks objectively at everything happening in the world — let alone who can predict developments, at least in the medium term — would not have allowed this war to happen…. Thanks to my work in the FGS, I have seen how information is distorted."

During the Dossier Center interview, Karakulov lamented, "Our president has lost touch with the world. He has been living in an information cocoon for the past couple of years, spending most of his time in his residences, which the media very fittingly call bunkers. He is pathologically afraid for his life. He surrounds himself with an impenetrable barrier of quarantines and an information vacuum. He only values his own life and the lives of his family and friends. The lives of your family and friends are of no interest to him."

Karakulov warned Kremlin officials that no good can come from having a blind, unquestioning devotion to Putin.

The former FGS captain advises, "You mustn't follow criminal orders and serve this war criminal, Vladimir Putin. It is up to you to stop this madness very quickly. I wish you would do that because it would save many lives."

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Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link.