Kremlin reportedly disabled Putin security cameras over assassination fears
The Kremlin has reportedly switched off CCTV systems protecting Russian President Vladimir Putin after concerns the cameras could be used to facilitate an assassination.
The move is believed to have followed the Israeli operation in Tehran that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, during which operatives allegedly used compromised cameras to track senior Iranian officials. Moscow feared similar tactics could be used against top Russian leaders.
The CCTV system is separate from the vast network used to monitor ordinary Russians. According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, engineers restored the system only after attempting to disconnect it from the internet.
Israeli agents reportedly collected large amounts of footage from Tehran traffic cameras and used AI software to analyze millions of hours of video. The technology allowed them to map the city, identify security personnel behavior patterns, and determine when and where Iran’s Supreme Leader would meet senior advisers. Several high-ranking Iranian security officials were then killed in the opening stages of the United States’ Operation Epic Fury and Israel’s Roaring Lion.
The operation has unsettled intelligence agencies worldwide. Russian security officials warn that surveillance systems designed to monitor populations can be turned against the governments that deploy them.
Alexander Bortnikov, who leads Russia’s FSB security agency, told regional officials last month that the killings should serve as a “clear warning sign” about vulnerabilities in modern surveillance infrastructure, pointing to how software flaws in Tehran’s camera network helped reveal the locations of Iran’s top officials.
While intelligence agencies and skilled hackers have long been able to breach cameras, AI now makes it far easier to analyze vast amounts of footage and identify people, vehicles, and behavioral patterns.
Moscow has long feared assassination attempts against Putin, particularly by Ukrainian intelligence. The FT reported Kyiv has previously hacked traffic cameras and used mobile phone data to target senior Russian military personnel. An independent Ukrainian hacker said some Moscow cameras, including near the Kremlin, remain vulnerable.
A security official from a Five Eyes intelligence alliance member state told the FT: “They’re the ones putting the cameras up; all we have to do is find a way in. And there is always a way in.”
