Vladimir Putin has hidden billions of euros in cash and gold in an African country in case he has to leave Russia.
The total value of his escape fund hidden in “underground warehouses” in the landlocked country is reported as €14.08 billion.
It is said to be under the close protection of the private military company Wagner – a Russian mercenary army loyal to Putin – in the Central African Republic.
Wagner is also crucial to the 70-year-old war in Ukraine, having recruited tens of thousands of mercenaries and sent them to the front line.
Official state media in Russia say Putin – who skipped the G-20 summit in Bali – spoke on Friday with Faustin Arcange Touadera, president of the African nation.
“The presidents expressed their common intention to intensify bilateral political, commercial and economic cooperation, including in the fuel and energy sector,” said a statement from the Russian government.
General SVR’s Telegram channel said that Putin’s real intention was to verify the “loyalty” of the African leader.
Putin “hinted at a possible visit in the near future” to the capital Bangui.
The channel made the surprising claim that Putin “considers the Central African Republic as one of two options for evacuation in an emergency situation for himself and his loved ones, Alina Kavaeva outside the territory of the Russian Federation.”
The channel did not say which other country Putin might see as a stable sinkhole if the Kremlin is engulfed in revolution.
Wagner’s private army is known to have acted to help control Touadera’s power.
Citing “insider information”, the anonymous channel General SVR has long claimed that Putin suffers from cancer, Parkinson’s disease and a schizoaffective disorder.
However, it foresaw the shape of Putin’s mobilization strategy.
The author is said to be a former lieutenant general, known by the pseudonym Viktor Mikhailovich.