VLADIMIR PUTIN was asleep upstairs when the bear arrived. The Russian president’s bodyguard, Alexey Dyumin, stared at the creature through the glass doors of the mountain home. “It was quite large,” Mr Dyumin later recalled. “I opened the door and emptied my pistol at his legs.” The bear wisely turned and ran.
Politicians often develop special relationships with those assigned to protect them. Mr Putin has become closer than most to the men of Russia’s Federal Protective Service (FSO). Since 2016, four FSO officers from his personal guard have been appointed regional governors, making the unusual leap from the shadows into …read more
Source: The Economist
