re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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After the announcement of mobilization in Russia, President Vladimir Putin went on vacation.

This is evidenced by the stories of three sources familiar with the president's schedule.

A video with Putin, in which he called Russians to the front, the Kremlin published on the morning of Wednesday, September 21. It was recorded in advance, rather than broadcast live (at such a time - 9 am - Putin is usually still asleep). Later that day, Putin traveled to Veliky Novgorod, where he attended a technical school and a concert.

Immediately after the concert, according to my interlocutors, Putin began a break in public activities, and it will last at least a week. To disappear from the public space unnoticed, Putin made a lot of "canned food" - pre-filmed bilateral meetings that the press service publishes at the right time to create the impression that the president is constantly working. The Kremlin has already revealed the first of the "canned goods" – a meeting with the head of Dom.rf, Putin's old "St. Petersburg" comrade Vitaly Mutko.

The Kremlin plans to use "canned food" at least until next Thursday, when the president has a visit to a major industrial region on schedule, one of the interlocutors familiar with Putin's schedule knows.

Another source says that since last Wednesday evening, Putin has been resting "body and soul" at his residence on Valdai in the Novgorod region. FBK told in detail about it: next to the main house of the official residence there is a three-storey SPA complex with a cryochamber, a mud bath and a float pool. There's also a hockey box in the area where the president likes to gather friends and play hockey, one of the sources said.

Of course, Putin cannot go on vacation for a week without a connection. On Thursday and Friday, he held telephone talks with the President of Turkmenistan and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Also on Friday, the Kremlin's website published news of a meeting with members of the Security Council. However, the latter could also be "canned food", sources say.

But the most interesting thing is that Putin did not come to Friday's Z-concert in the heart of Moscow in support of "referendums" in the occupied territories of Ukraine. According to his press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the reason was allegedly work in the Kremlin.

To my questions whether Putin is on vacation and whether he spends it at Valdai, Peskov answered in the negative.

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