“Et tu, Brute?”

Supposedly, those were Julius Caesar’s last words as he saw his trusted friend, Marcus Brutus, raise his arm to administer the final, fatal wound on that infamous day, the Ides of March in the year 44 B.C.E.

And, quite possibly, they are now also the stuff of Vladimir Putin’s nightmares in this year of 2023 A.D., since — according to those in a position to know — he hasn’t been sleeping well lately.

In 1988, then PLO leader Yasser Arafat revealed in a Time Magazine interview that he never slept in the same bed two nights in a row because of his fear of assassination by Israeli forces. It seems that Mr. Putin has been thinking along the same lines, and taking similar — if not identical — precautions.

A former officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSO), Vitalii Brizhatyi, recently gave an exclusive interview on the independent Russian TV channel Dozhd, about his observations while he was responsible for security at the secret Crimean residences of Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev (Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council), and Aleksandr Bortnikov (head of the FSO) — all located in close proximity to one another on a remote promontory overlooking the Black Sea.

According to Mr. Brizhatyi, Putin no longer trusts even his own security personnel. He may, for example, tell the guards he will be working or resting in one location when he is actually somewhere entirely different. When traveling to Crimea, he will announce his scheduled arrival at two different airports, where his security teams will be waiting for him, while he chooses a third, completely different means of transportation. One can only imagine the precautions that are taken at mealtime to ensure that his food hasn’t been poisoned!

In addition, Mr. Brizhatyi said that FSO personnel at the Crimea location were “strictly prohibited from communicating with Ukrainian relatives, citizens of the United States, the European Union, or anyone opposing the war, under the threat of criminal prosecution.” Those who might attempt to quit and leave were threatened with deployment to the front lines. Ultimately, Mr. Brizhatyi was somehow able to secure foreign passports for himself and his wife along with residency permits in Ecuador, where they now reside. Details of his departure were not made available in the recent report of the interview.

So it seems that Mr. Putin’s deeds may finally have caught up with him . . . emotionally, at least. I doubt that he has suddenly grown a conscience; but surely he understands human nature, and realizes — or perhaps simply imagines — that his enemies are out there, waiting to strike. Is it paranoia? Only if it’s not true. In either case, it makes him an even more dangerous foe. Look at what it did to Josef Stalin and those he came to distrust.

Mr. Putin may or may not be familiar with the biblical passage, “. . . all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” (Matthew 26:52). Or maybe he’s simply heard this more updated version: “What goes around, comes around.” In any case, it appears that he is shaking in his proverbial boots. Too bad, Vlad. You should have thought of all the possible consequences before you started down your personal road to perdition.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/14/23