Putin Has Escape Plan to Venezuela if Russia Loses War: Former Speechwriter

Abbas Gallyamov, ( a former speechwriter for the Kremlin chief) who is also a political analyst, said a trusted source told him that the Kremlin has, since the spring, been developing a backup plan for a potential defeat in Ukraine, which involves Putin and his top leadership fleeing to Venezuela.

According to Gallyamov, the project has been unofficially named "Noah's Ark." Argentina and Venezuela are allegedly among the top options for Putin to flee to, but China was considered in the early stages of talks.

Gallyamov, who has been living in exile in Israel since 2018, said his source told him that Yury Kurilin, the vice president and chief of staff of Russian energy company Rosneft, is "the man on the ground" making all the arrangements for a potential evacuation to Venezuela.

"In the summer, he formally resigned from [Rosneft] and now devoted himself entirely to the 'Noah's Ark,'" Gallyamov wrote. "He has American citizenship and good connections. He graduated from Hayward University in California [and] worked in BP structures, including in the high position of director of corporate affairs."