Was Putin Enjoying a Festival on a Yacht During the Rebellion...? Russian Media Doubts His Whereabouts

"Don't Miss the Graduation Party... Enjoy the 'Bulgeun Dot Festival'"
"Belief in Controlling Everything... Detached from Reality"

Russian President Vladimir Putin was reportedly attending a hometown festival during the Wagner Group's armed rebellion.

On the 1st (local time), according to Russian independent media Novaya Gazeta Europe and Seoul Shinmun, Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar stated in a New York Times (NYT) column the previous day, "President Putin never misses the alumni graduation party held in his hometown."

Russian President Vladimir Putin. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He claimed, "This was also the case this year when Prigozhin and his subordinates launched an armed rebellion," adding, "Putin enjoyed the Scarlet Sails Festival in Saint Petersburg aboard the yacht of Yuri Kovalchuk, a billionaire businessman known as 'Putin's banker' and a friend."

The Scarlet Sails Festival is a graduation celebration held annually in late June in Saint Petersburg, famous for the sight of boats with red sails appearing at dawn and spectacular fireworks lighting up the sky.

Zygar served as the editor-in-chief during the founding of Russia's first independent TV channel, Dozhd, and has voiced opposition to the Putin regime through contributions to various media outlets. He moved to Berlin around late February last year when Russia's invasion of Ukraine began.

He cited multiple sources including Putin's close officials, administrators, journalists, and businessmen, pointing out, "This behavior of Putin is the clearest evidence that he is detached from reality."

Zygar added, "Putin still believes he controls everything and that Prigozhin's rebellion did not affect the political situation in any way. But he is wrong," and continued, "Many people I have spoken to think Putin's regime can no longer continue."

Another journalist, Yulia Taratuta, also claimed in a Dozhd column that President Putin was in Saint Petersburg during the rebellion. Taratuta raised suspicions that Kovalchuk personally prepared a gift for Putin, receiving a new yacht to replace the 'Scheherazade,' which was seized due to Western sanctions.

She added, "Neither the war with Ukraine, Prigozhin's rebellion, nor the attacks on Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh taken over by the Wagner Group could prevent Putin's visit to Saint Petersburg."

Evidence supporting these claims has also been presented. Earlier, Russian independent media outlets Bazniye Istorii and Proekt claimed that two of Putin's private planes took off from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport at 2:16 p.m. and 6:43 p.m. on the 24th, the day of the rebellion, heading to Saint Petersburg but disappeared from radar over Tver airspace.

Proekt speculated that the planes might have turned off their onboard location transmitters and reported that they returned to Moscow the following day, the 25th.

However, the Russian government emphasized in an interview with Russian state media that "President Putin was working at the Kremlin" and that the head of state had no plans to attend the Scarlet Sails Festival.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.