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Kremlin releases video of Vladimir Putin meeting one of his old school teachers<\/p>\nVladimir Putin pulled up to a hotel in central Moscow earlier in May in a Russian-made SUV, dressed casually in jeans and a light jacket. Carrying a bouquet of flowers, he walked unhurriedly into the lobby and embraced his former schoolteacher Vera Gurevich, who kissed him on both cheeks.<\/p>\n
He then helped Gurevich into his car and drove her to dinner at the Kremlin.<\/p>\n
It came just a day after several western media outlets, citing a European intelligence report, claimed Putin had spent weeks hiding in an underground bunker, gripped by fears of assassination or even a coup.<\/p>\n
The televised meeting was carefully crafted to reinforce a very different image of the Russian leader, one which he has refined over 25 years in power: the approachable, confident president, a man of the people casually dropping in on an old teacher.<\/p>\n
Kremlin releases video of Vladimir Putin meeting one of his old school teachers<\/p>\n
But while fears of an imminent coup are exaggerated, there is little doubt that Putin is entering the most challenging period of his long rule. Interviews with several people in the orbit of the Russian leader, as well as sources in the Russian business world and western intelligence officials, paint a picture of an isolated leader surrounded by an elite that is becoming rapidly disillusioned, both with the faltering war in Ukraine<\/a> and the economic downturn at home.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s definitely been a shift in mood among the elites this year \u2026 there is profound disappointment in Putin,\u201d said a well-connected business leader, adding that there was \u201ca growing sense that some kind of catastrophe is looming\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one believes everything will suddenly collapse tomorrow,\u201d the source said. \u201cBut there is a growing realisation that utterly senseless, self-destructive decisions keep being made. People who once defended Putin no longer do. Any sense of a future has disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n Putin delivering a speech during the Victory Day parade in Red Square, Moscow, on 9 May. Photograph: Alexander Kazakov\/Reuters<\/p>\n Putin\u2019s approval ratings are slipping, the economy is under mounting pressure, and even pro-Kremlin bloggers who have rarely criticised the president are beginning to speak out.<\/p>\n Despite the cracks emerging at home, Putin\u2019s calculus on the war in Ukraine has not changed, and he remains determined to press on, according to interviews with multiple people familiar with his thinking, as well as European and Ukrainian intelligence officials.<\/p>\n Putin has made clear to his inner circle that he believes Moscow can capture the entirety of the Donbas region by the end of the year, two sources with access to the president said. \u201cPutin is fixated on Donbas and he will not stop before that,\u201d one of them said.<\/p>\n A woman sits at a bus stop in Moscow, in front of a poster advertising military conscription. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov\/EPA<\/p>\n Speaking after the 9 May Victory Day parade \u2013 scaled back amid fears of Ukrainian drone attacks <\/a>\u2013 Putin surprised many by suggesting the war was \u201ccoming to a close\u201d<\/a>. The remark made headlines, but those familiar with his thinking caution that it should not be interpreted as a sign he is prepared to compromise. Instead, it suggests Putin believes a military breakthrough is imminent.<\/p>\n A Ukrainian intelligence official said Russian generals had convinced the Russian leader that the Donbas would be taken by the end of the year. \u201cFabricated reports [are] being fed up the chain of command, claiming victory is imminent,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n That bravado is not currently reflected on the battlefield. Military analysts say that, at the current pace of advance, it could take Russia years to fully capture the Donbas.<\/p>\n It remains unclear to what extent Russia\u2019s military and security services are presenting Putin with an overly optimistic picture. \u201cEven if many around him understand the reality of the situation, we still don\u2019t know what Putin himself understands. That\u2019s the most difficult part,\u201d one senior European intelligence official said.<\/p>\n Moscow prepares for a scaled-back Victory Day celebration on 6 May amid fears of Ukrainian drone attacks. Photograph: Maxim Shipenkov\/EPA<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, officials and the military paint a rosy picture for the president,\u201d a person familiar with discussions in the Kremlin said. \u201cThey lie to him. That\u2019s how the system Putin has built works.\u201d<\/p>\n Another factor in Putin\u2019s decision to fight on is that the Russian leader has lost faith in Donald Trump\u2019s ability to pressure Kyiv into surrendering territory as part of a deal, according to one source close to Putin and another involved in backchannel talks.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was this widespread optimism in Moscow that Trump could deliver the Donbas after his election. It has largely evaporated,\u201d one source in contact with Putin said.<\/p>\n Though Trump has recently repeatedly touted that the war in Ukraine is coming to an end \u2013 with US help \u2013 the Russian leadership increasingly sees little value in continuing negotiations with Washington. Ukraine has acknowledged that Trump\u2019s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, repeatedly pressed it in a series of meetings to withdraw Ukrainian troops from territory it still controls.<\/p>\n A photograph posted on the Telegram channel of a regional governor, Andrey Vorobyov, on 17 May shows a burning building after an air attack at an undisclosed location in the Moscow region, amid the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Photograph: Telegram\/@vorobiev_live\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n But Kyiv also has dramatically reduced its dependence on Washington, while stepping up its own military production. The unblocking of a \u20ac90bn EU loan <\/a>and deepening military and intelligence sharing ties with European allies have further diminished US leverage over Ukraine, and Kyiv is not minded to make concessions on territory in the absence of ironclad US security guarantees.<\/p>\n For now, Moscow\u2019s goal is the capture of the Donbas, and Russian negotiators have made clear that Moscow would be ready to sue for peace once this happens. Yet those close to Putin say his ambitions may increase again if he senses Ukraine beginning to collapse. Then, two people familiar with his thinking said, he could push further, crossing the Dnipro River, in an attempt to seize all four Ukrainian regions that Russia claimed to annex in 2022 but still does not fully control.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is not a long-term strategist,\u201d one of them said. \u201cHis appetite grows as he eats.\u201d<\/p>\n Discontent at home<\/p>\n Ripples of dissent in society began surfacing earlier in 2026, when the Kremlin banned or restricted most messaging apps while preserving access only to a state-backed alternative.<\/p>\n Mobile internet across central Moscow and other regions has been intermittently disrupted or shut down entirely, causing Russian businesses to complain of billions of roubles in losses.<\/p>\n Police speak with a man and a woman carrying a paper map, symbolising the loss of access to phone navigation during internet shutdowns, during a protest in St Petersburg against internet restrictions in Russia. Photograph: Andrei Bok\/Sopa Images\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n The shutdowns prompted dark humour among Moscow\u2019s elite. \u201cAt the dinner table, everyone talks about the internet. We are now somewhere closer to North Korea,\u201d one Kremlin insider said. China\u2019s internet controls, once routinely mocked in Russia as a symbol of censorship, are now discussed with a degree of envy.<\/p>\n