An anonymous source has claimed that Vladimir Putin is stashing massive quantities of food in a bunker equipped for nuclear fallout.
Food to feed up to 300 people ‘for several years’ has allegedly been sent to the bunker in the remote Altai Mountains.
The chilling claim comes amid deep tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine, as Putin on Friday warned that NATO leaders are pushing him ‘to the point of no return’ over a nuclear Third World War.
A source – who claims to be involved in loading the food – told Pozdnyakov Telegram channel that ‘boxes with dry rations, cereals, and canned food’ are being shifted on a gargantuan scale to the remote Siberian location.
Nearby is a Putin escape named Altai Yard where earlier reports indicate the Kremlin dictator constructed a giant underground nuclear bunker.
Of the food, the source was quoted as saying: ‘I have never seen anything like it – imported, expensive, not ours [Russian]. The products are brought to a warehouse in the mountainous region, and then a presumed Putin security team takes charge.
‘We unload the trucks at the warehouse, and then load the cargo into other trucks. The drivers on those trucks are definitely not ordinary long-distance drivers. They are strictly dressed, their faces are serious.
‘I’m telling you these are definitely not ordinary drivers…..They don’t make contact [with us]. Nor do they reveal where the supplies are destined. According to my calculations, in a month we loaded and reloaded canned food and cereals, enough for several years of tireless life, for at least 200-300 people.’
The claim comes as world leaders are joining Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit in Switzerland to explore ways of ending the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
The warehouse is reportedly near the confluence of the Ursul and Katun rivers in the Altai Mountains, the channel was told.
This is the location of Italian-designed Altai Yard, officially a property for energy giant Gazprom’s elite staff, but widely seen as a secret Putin palace.
He is known to have visited, once with former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi, and Putin’s alleged secret partner, gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 41.
The estate – some 135 miles south of the regional capital Gorno-Altaisk, and 2,375 miles east of Moscow – was in the headlines last month when a fire destroyed a building on the compound.
Ordinary Russians cannot go near the elite hideaway and security has told snoopers that it is ‘a specially protected facility intended for the recreation of senior officials of the state’.
Observers have noted multiple ventilation points in the grounds surrounding the mountain hideout, and a high voltage line linked to an ultra-modern 110 kilovolt substation, enough to power a small city.
During construction, vast German tunnel diggers were reported to have been at the site, nearby mountainous escape routes to China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan.
It was not possible to independently verify the report on the channel, which has almost 600,000 subscribers.
The revelation comes in a week when Putin is conducting tactical nuclear missile tests along with his close ally Belarus.
In an address to the Russian Foreign Ministry, he said: ‘We have come unacceptably close to the point of no return.
‘Calls to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons demonstrate the extreme recklessness of Western politicians.
‘They either do not understand the scale of the threat they are creating – or are simply obsessed with their own sense of impunity and exceptionalism. Both can lead to tragedy.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE : Putin warns West he’s being ‘pushed to point of no return’ over World War III
MORE : Satellite images show Putin’s warships just miles away from US shores
MORE : Mystery fire breaks out at Putin’s warplane factory
Get your need-to-know
latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.