On October 14, 2022, Russian Gleb Karakulov jumped at the chance: he fled just before the end of a summit meeting in Kazakhstan. By then he had worked for Vladimir Putin for thirteen years in the FSO, the Russian Presidential Protection Service. There he was a captain in the directorate for presidential communications, which enables encrypted communications between the president and the government.
Escape was not a spontaneous decision. For Karakulov it was clear long before that October day that he no longer wanted to do his job, as he told the Dossier Center in a detailed interview. The Dossier Center is an organization that tracks criminal activities of various people connected to the Kremlin. It is funded by former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of Putin’s biggest opponents and critics.
The center spoke to Karakulov for several hours, checked and confirmed his background and documents for authenticity. Several television stations are broadcasting the interview, including public broadcasters DR from Denmark, NRK from Norway and SVT from Sweden. The broadcasters were also able to verify information from the interview, but could not speak to Gleb Karakulov themselves. Journalists from the TV stations were able to speak to employees of the dossier center and find out how they checked the information and statements and whether they believed Karakulov to be credible.
“I should be retiring in less than two years,” says Karakulov. “I wanted to do my time, pay off my mortgage and that’s it; I wouldn’t renew my contract.” But in February 2022, Putin decided to invade Ukraine.
According to the 36-year-old, he was no longer able to work for the President. “I consider him a war criminal.” It was impossible for Karakulov to “carry out his criminal orders”.
The former FSO official therefore wanted to terminate his contract. In September 2022, however, there was a mobilization. “It was clear to me that even if I did retire, I would become a reserve officer and upon my discharge would be sent straight to the front.”
A little later he was supposed to go to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, where Vladimir Putin was supposed to take part in a summit meeting with CIS countries. “It was a good opportunity.” His wife and daughter followed him. Shortly before the end of the summit, he drove to the airport with both of them and boarded a plane to Istanbul with them. He pretended to his colleagues that he was ill.
Now he and his family live in a secret place, somewhere outside of Russia.
But the defector worries; he is wanted by the police in his home country. “In view of the fact that our relatives received a visit from them (Russian security forces, editor’s note) on November 8 or 9, I feel a growing unrest in me.”
Nevertheless, Gleb Karakulov wants to unpack. About the Kremlin, his employer and about Putin – who, by the way, he never spoke to personally.
According to him, the FSO is a “truly autonomous organization” that has many tasks. But all revolve around Putin’s safety and physical integrity.
“All food is controlled and there is a special service that does this testing: the biological safety center.”
Firefighters are also present when traveling, for example to check fire protection regulations when traveling.
Some units took care of video conferencing, phone lines, internet and workplace support, according to Karakulov. But there is something special about Putin: “He doesn’t use the Internet.”
He also does not use a cell phone or even a smartphone. “In all my years of service I have never seen him with a mobile phone. When we accompany the Prime Minister on business trips, we usually have one other person with us who is in charge of the internet – a digital office, a laptop and access to the Netz. Putin doesn’t need him.”
Putin lives in an “information vacuum” because he only receives information from those closest to him. But the President has been using video conferences, especially since the beginning of the corona pandemic.
According to Karakulov, this is also related to Putin’s strict corona measures. “We still have a self-isolating president. We have to maintain a strict two-week quarantine before every event, even if it’s only 15-20 minutes. There’s a pool of staff who have survived that two-week quarantine. They apply as ‘clean’ and can work in the same room as Putin.” Putin’s assistants would even have to do PCR tests several times a day.
“I have no idea why; he’s probably just worried about his health.” But this is good, according to Karakulov. “He is in better health than many other people his age.” If Putin has health problems, then these are due to his age. Putin is 70 years old.
Nevertheless, Putin is a workaholic, says Karakulov: “The president’s work calendar is extremely busy. (…) Putin works a lot, you can see that on his travels. He doesn’t go to bed before two or three in the morning Moscow time. When he’s in Kamchatka, he had a meeting in the middle of the night just because it was daytime in Moscow, and that was convenient for him.”
Another detail about Putin: “His offices, whether in St. Petersburg, Sochi or Novo-Ogaryovo, are all the same, that is, everything is identical there.”
According to Karakulov, Putin has also changed. He is no longer the same president as the one he started working for in 2009. “They are two different people in terms of their behavior. When the former FSB chief became prime minister and later president, he was energetic and active.” In the meantime, Putin has isolated himself.
“His view of reality is distorted. A reasonable person of the twenty-first century, who looks at everything that happens in the world objectively, let alone can foresee developments at least in the medium term, would not have allowed this war.”
He does not yet know what will happen next for Gleb Karakulov and his family. “Everything is in the river.” He only wants one thing: “My ultimate goal is that my child does not experience the horrors of war.” His daughter should grow up in peace and become a decent person.
He urges his former colleagues: “You have information that is not broadcast on television. I have only seen a tiny part of it. Come forward, support me. You will help our citizens to learn the truth. (…) You may not following criminal orders and serving this war criminal, Vladimir Putin.”
And he also has a message for his Russian compatriots: “Answer this question: Has your life improved in the last ten years? And in the last eight, nine months? I don’t think so. It shows that something is wrong. That means that the country’s leadership is not doing its job properly.”
According to Karakulov, Putin lives in a cocoon, hiding in his residences and fearing for his life. “He values only his own life and the lives of his family and friends. The lives of your family and friends are of no interest to him. By ripping men from their families and sending them to Ukraine for slaughter, he shows that he doesn’t give a damn about what’s happening to our country and Ukraine.”
He calls on the Russians to raise their voices. “Say it as loud as you can, directly to the Kremlin, to Putin personally. The constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assemblies, rallies and marches. Even if Putin stayed in one of his many bunkers, he would certainly be told that people are against the war.” The war must end and it is time to break the silence.
