Thread by @ArturRehi

Vladimir Putin has stopped appearing at public events in the Kremlin after details emerged about a US and Israeli operation to eliminate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As previously reported by Financial Times, before the strike Israeli intelligence tracked

Khamenei’s movements using hacked surveillance cameras. According to calculations by the outlet “Agentstvo,” the last time Putin held a public event in the Kremlin was on March 9 - a meeting on the situation in the global oil and gas market. After that, according to the

presidential press service, he met several times with regional governors, the Minister of Education, and the head of Sberbank, and also participated in Security Council meetings via video link. However, as “Agentstvo” notes, such meetings are often recorded in advance,

and participation via video link can take place from different residences equipped with identical offices. The pause in in-person Kremlin events has now lasted nine days - one of the longest breaks since the beginning of the year. The only time in 2026 when Putin was absent from

the Kremlin for longer was in February - from the 6th to the 18th. For comparison, the pause after the New Year holidays did not exceed six days. According to Financial Times, Israeli intelligence tracked the ayatollah through hacked street cameras in Tehran, images from which

had been transmitted to Israel for years. One of the cameras was installed on Pasteur Street, where government buildings are located, allowing the security system of the complex to be studied. “We knew Tehran as well as Jerusalem,” an FT intelligence source said. In addition,

before the strike Israel disabled cell towers so that calls could not reach the phones of Khamenei’s security detail. In Moscow, where the number of surveillance cameras exceeds that of Tehran, and where mobile internet shutdowns in the city center have lasted for almost two

weeks, these details have caused concern. Former “state security minister of the DPR” Andrei Pinchuk suggested in a publication on the propaganda outlet Tsargrad that the “relentless hunt” for Iranian leaders and the mass communication shutdowns in Moscow may be connected.

Meanwhile, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, Israel is now focusing on destabilizing the Iranian regime from within, obtaining intelligence from local residents and eliminating commanders of security forces. On the night of Tuesday, March 17, Iran’s Security Council

Secretary Ali Larijani, who was considered the de facto leader of the country after Khamenei’s death, was eliminated. According to Iran International, Larijani’s killing became possible thanks to information from Tehran residents. Israel’s Ministry of Defense also reported

the “elimination” of Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, and according to Tel Aviv, thousands of Iranian security personnel have been killed in the strikes.