During his trip to Mariupol, the President personally chose where to go, where to stay and with whom to communicate. Photo: Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation / TASS
The President’s route around Mariupol, when he himself got behind the wheel, was completely unplanned. The President personally chose where to go, where to stay and with whom to communicate, said on the air of Pavel Zarubin’s program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” on the channel “Russia” operator of the Russian leader named Mikhail. He was the only operator who accompanied Putin on that trip.
According to him, initially there was a plan for the movement of the president, but the head of state himself canceled it:
“Things didn’t go according to plan,” Michael said. – The driver was prepared, the president was supposed to ride in the back right seat. Instead, he (the president) instructed to get behind the wheel. I sat in the back. A command was received for people who ensure safety: “we work from the wheels.” And quickly began to build a route.
The vice-premier of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin was also in the car with the president. As the operator noted, the president “drove wherever he wanted”:
– He saw a stele dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, and without warning turned to stop near it. I was surprised at the ease with which these changes occur. That is, he drove around the real Mariupol – where he wanted.
As for the meeting with the residents, it was also unplanned. Putin himself decided to stop, greet the people who live in the ruined city and wait for their hands. At the same time, there were no searches of Mariupol residents.
The same is true when visiting the headquarters of the Dnepr group of troops and the Vostok National Guard. No one was preparing for the visit of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief:
– There was a certain number of generals meeting – people who met someone unknown to them. As far as I understand, for them it was designated as some kind of leadership, a general, maybe someone from the headquarters was supposed to come. That is, they met someone high-ranking but without specifics, – Mikhail notes. – And when the motorcade starts to drive in at speed and the president gets out of the car, for most of them it was a big surprise, because none of them expected. It was visible in the eyes. Then he was taken to headquarters. There, too, no one was preparing for his arrival – it was clear that the living conditions for a stay. Where clothes are needed … People work. Nobody picked up. You can see the working process, people are busy with business, and at this moment the supreme commander comes in.
As the man notes, Vladimir Putin surprised him very much with his endurance during this trip:
– According to my estimates, he did not sleep for 23 hours, somewhere in the region of the day. With light breaks, for the opportunity to fall asleep somewhere in transport, in a helicopter. The president, as I understand it, has a very difficult torn schedule. Along the way, I could not fall asleep quickly, switch off, relax like he did in any position.
