Russian President Vladimir Putin's limousine and cavalcade were seen making a midnight dash to Kremlin on Wednesday night, in what is being feared that he might be plotting another assault on Ukraine. Putin frequently pre-records important announcements with a Kremlin backdrop. There were no immediate comments from Kremlin.
It is widely believed that his nighttime address, which six months ago announced the start of his "special military operation" in Ukraine, was recorded before it was aired. The new video that shows Putin rushing to Kremlin on Wednesday night comes just a day after Russia bombed a major railway station in Ukraine killing 22 people.
Busy at Kremlin
On Wednesday night Putin was seen traveling at a high speed to the Kremlin in his Aurus limousine and cavalcade, according to a Daily Mail report. It is believed that he might have made the decision to go to Kremlin to record some important announcements, hinting at yet another Russian attack on Ukraine.
The Kremlin is yet to say anything about the footage of his cavalcade's unprecedented late-night rush through central Moscow. Putin's official residence in the Moscow region, Novo-Ogaryovo, is about 20 miles from the Kremlin, the Russian seat of power.
It came shortly after Putin's last deadly strike, which coincided with Ukraine's Independence Day and the country's 31st anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union, in which he launched missiles at a train station, killing 22 people.
Operation Z: Military Commissars of the Russian Spring, a Telegram channel with 900,000 followers, who initially broadcast the footage, later removed it, possibly under pressure from the authorities, but other unofficial channels continued to broadcast it.
One headline read: "Putin's cortege is rushing to the Kremlin - wonder what for?"
Why the Urgency
Putin frequently shifts base to another house on the Black Sea during the summer. Former lawmaker and political commentator Sergey Markov asserted that Putin's hasty trip to the Kremlin may have been related to a decision to designate Ukraine as a "terrorist state."
Another theory was that he intended to announce a significant war escalation amid the recent US announcement of significant new military aid to Ukraine.
"Ukrainian [social media] must be trembling while reporting that right now Putin has arrived at the Kremlin - which means some important decisions will be made," Markov said, according to the Daily Mail.
On Wednesday, Putin held a meeting about the wildfires threatening areas close to Moscow, presumably from Novo-Ogaryovo.
He was spotted in a Kremlin meeting the day before with former deputy prime minister and current chairman of the state development enterprise VEB.RF, Igor Shuvalov.
