A top Kremlin official responsible for carrying the Russian president’s nuclear briefcase is said to have been shot at his home near Moscow.
Vadim Zimin, 53, is currently fighting for his life in intensive care, according to reports from Russian media.
The secretive colonel was facing accusations of bribery and was under house arrest when the incident occurred after joining the customs service following his departure from the security services.
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Zimin was a retired colonel in the Federal Security Service had been in charge of carrying the briefcase believed to contain the codes to Russia’s nuclear arsenal which always accompanies the Russian leader, although he is not the only person responsible for carrying out this task.
Zimin first performed this role while acting as an aide to former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, rising through the ranks to become a colonel under his successor Vladimir Putin, although the exact nature of his role in the administration remains unclear and only one photo of him is known to exist.
Zimin was reportedly found with multiple gunshot wounds in the kitchen of his flat in the outskirts of Moscow, while his wife, who is a medic, was treating soldiers wounded in Ukraine.
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The colonel’s body was instead discovered lying in a pool of blood with a head wound by his brother, who was allegedly in the bathroom at the time of the shooting on Monday, 20 June.
The incident comes as Zimin was facing criminal investigation for alleged bribe-taking after joining the customs service in a senior role, Moskovsky Komsomolets reports.
Zimin was currently under house arrest at the time of the shooting and had denied any wrongdoing.
An Izh 79-9TM pistol was later discovered by authorities lying nearby at the scene of the crime.
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The secret briefcase he was responsible for carrying, known as the 'Cheget' in Russian, is believed to contain the launch codes for the Kremlin’s nuclear arsenal.
The bag has its own personalised keycode and is kept under strict supervision 24/7, with up to three people identified as being responsible for its protection.
Putin is known to enjoy 'taunting' the West by keeping the briefcase visible at all times during public appearances and official engagements, and always has one of his three officers accompanying him with the Cheget in tow.
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A prominent example of this could be seen in April when the Russian leader attended the funeral of ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky in Moscow with the briefcase close by.
Meanwhile, another of Putin's top colonels was also killed yesterday after their helicopter was hit by a Ukrainian missile.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sergey Gundorov, 51, is said to be the 55th officer of that rank to be killed this year following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Gundorov's military helicopter was struck by a portable surface-to-air missile while flying near Volnovakha in the Donbas region. The Mi-35 hit the ground in a ball of flames before cartwheeling over a strip of woodland and then exploding in a field.
Topics: Russia
Tom Sanders