VLAD ON THE RUN
Putin ‘vanishes to luxury forest palace’ sparking fresh health rumours as protests sweep Russia over Ukraine war draft
VLADIMIR Putin is said to have vanished to a luxury palace in a secret location as a new wave of protests over his war draft swept Russia.
The Russian leader's disappearance has sparked fresh rumours about the state of his health with sources claiming he is resting "body and soul."
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It comes as unrest erupted over Putin's forced mobilisation of civilian reservists in more than a dozen major cities.
Anti-mobilisation protests broke out across the country after Putin drafted 300,000 reservists into his bloody war in Ukraine on Wednesday.
Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested as thousands are trying to flee the country.
Brutal riot police detained nearly 750 protesters in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita and Ivanovo.
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Dramatic footage shows officers hauling away protesters- some of which were accused of illegal rallies and in some cases discrediting Putin’s armed forces, which could lead to up to 15 years in jail.
In Moscow, a young woman climbed on a bench and shouted "We aren't cannon fodder" before police took her away.
Police detained a man in a park just outside Red Square and whisked him away as others shouted "Shame".
It follows the arrest of over 1,300 protesters on Wednesday after Putin's announcement live on TV.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russian conscripts sabotage the army from within.
He said during his speech on Saturday: “If you get into the Russian army, sabotage any activity of the enemy, hinder any Russian operations, provide us with any important information about the occupiers - their bases, headquarters, warehouses with ammunition.
“Avoid conscription letters. Try to get to the free territory of Ukraine."
In the meantime, amid Russia's turmoil, its leader is rumoured to have disappeared to a palace in the forest at Valdai, in the north of the country cutting himself off from the chaos.
Sources have claimed that he had pre-recorded a number of videos showing him busy meeting officials.
These were being released to make it appear he was busy at work, but in fact, is “resting” at Valdai.
Journalist Farida Rustamova posted that a trusted source said “that since last Wednesday evening, Putin has been resting "body and soul" in his residence in Valdai in the Novgorod region”.
The residence boasts a three-storey spa complex with a “personal beauty parlour” dubbed the “temple to his asceticism”.
Two floors are hidden underground replete with a cryo chamber for extreme cold therapy, and a mud bath, in a 75,350 square ft relaxation facility.
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There is also a float pool - "a large bath or capsule filled with very salty water, that is, you lie in it and seem to float on the surface, as if in zero gravity”.
“There is a fully equipped cosmetologist's office, next to a dentist's surgery,” claimed jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team in revealing the existence of the bolthole last year.
The luxurious spa also has massage baths, a 25-metre pool surrounded by contrasting hot tubs as well as saunas and a Turkish bath, and a Thai massage podium.
The sprawling lakeside estate seen on drone footage includes a stable, golf course, mini-golf course, VIP restaurant with a cinema, bowling, billiard room and even a mini-casino.
The complex is dubbed Putin’s “most secret official dacha”.
Meanwhile, desperate Russians have been frantically trying to flee the country to avoid being sent to the frontline.
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Huge queues have built at the borders with Finland, Georgia and Mongolia while men are rushing to get married to avoid getting conscripted.
Flights have also been disrupted, with fares for journeys on Russia's national airline Aeroflot going for up to £10,000.
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