Russian President Vladimir Putin has survived as assassination attempt, according to a report in Euro Weekly News on Thursday. It said that the information was released on the General GVR Telegram channel on Wednesday. The outlet, however, added that it is not known when the attempt took place. Rumours around Mr Putin's health and threat to life have been swirling around since Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year. As far as the Russian President is concerned, he publicly disclosed in 2017 that he has survived at least five assassination attempts.
According to the account on the Telegram channel, the left front wheel of Mr Putin's limousine was hit by a loud bang, Euro Weekly reported, adding that the car was quickly driven to safety even as smoke emerged out of it.
The Russian President was unharmed in the in the incident, but the outlet said that a number of arrests have been made.
Other news outlets like news.co.au also reported about the incident, saying that Mr Putin was travelling back to his official residence in a decoy motorcade amid security concerns.
"On the way to the residence, a few kilometres away, the first escort car was blocked by an ambulance, the second escort car drove around without stopping (due to the) sudden obstacle, and during the detour of the obstacle," according to an update on posted on channel as reported by the outlet.
This comes a week after a group of politicians from St Petersburg appealed to the State Duma to bring charges of state treason against Mr Putin and strip him of power, citing a series of reasons including Russia's military losses in Ukraine and the damage to its economy from Western sanctions.
Another local deputy said 65 municipal representatives from St Petersburg, Moscow and several other regions had signed a petition she published on Monday calling for Putin's resignation.
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