Vladimir Putin's electrician for 'secret palace' blown up in 'assassination attempt'
An electrician who worked at a secret palace belonging to Vladimir Putin is reportedly seriously wounded and in a coma after an explosion at his Moscow flat.
Mikhail Mukhin, 34, serviced the Valdai residence in north of Moscow which the Russian dictator is said to share with his alleged lover Alina Kabaeva, 41, and their two young children, according to Telegram channel VChK-OGPU. It said details of the explosion, including its cause, were immediately classified but the report said there was a 'smell of gunpowder' at this scene, raising the possibility of an assassination attempt. Three people died in the blast.
The victims included nursery school teacher Natalya Leonova, 38. As many as 13 others were wounded according to reports on Monday, which did not mention Mukhin and said a gas explosion caused the blast.
Harrowing footage showed the victims of a neighbouring eighth floor flat at the windows as it was engulfed by flames. They were pleading in vain for rescue. The channel reported today: 'All case materials were classified, even doctors were forbidden to discuss the nature of Mikhail's injuries with relatives - he is in a coma.'
It stressed 'the cause of the explosion is carefully hidden.' The channel published a picture of a man which it claimed was the palace electrician.
'Mikhail Mukhin, as an invited specialist, was in charge of the work to replace the lighting system in Putin's residence in Valdai at the end of 2024," it reported. "He told his acquaintances that he was again called to the residence in Valdai and that he must definitely go there on Wednesday."
But early on Monday, 'a strong explosion thundered in the apartment where Mukhin lived. After the incident, the entrance smelled of gunpowder, not gas.'
Mukhin 'received serious injuries and was secretly hospitalised from the scene of the incident, first to [Sklifosovsky Institute for Emergency Medicine] and then transferred to a burn centre.'
He was reportedly identified by his ex-partner Yana Tikhomirova, who had moved out of the apartment in the building on General Tyulenev Street two months ago. The channel said Mukhin 'has multiple burns on his body and is in a coma. At the same time, the hair on his head is burnt at the back, and his lungs are not affected.'
Reports said that Leonova, 38, a kindergarten teacher, was killed in the explosion along with her son, 19, and mother. Two of Leona's children were hospitalised. Her partner is said to be a fighter in Putin's war, and was away from home.
News outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets said the epicentre of the explosion was in a one-room apartment - where Mukhin is believed to have lived - and not in the neighbouring three-room apartment where three people died.
Putin, 72, shares the secret Valdai palace retreat, some 230 miles northwest of the Kremlin, with alleged secret lover Kabaeva and their sons Ivan, ten, and Vladimir junior, six. The dictator has never admitted to his relationship with Kabaeva, or his sons, and at the weekend showed Russians his flat in the Kremlin, rather than any of his lavish residences such as the Valdai retreat.
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