Vladimir Putin decides to build bomb shelters for wealthy Russians: report | World News

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the construction of a new bomb shelter at the country’s most elite hospital, where senior officials are treated, a government website said. An air-raid shelter for the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital has been ordered and is scheduled to be completed by December this year.

The Moscow Times, an independent Russian news outlet citing a Russian public procurement website, said the cost of the project was estimated at 35 million rubles ($431,000). Mediazona reported that senior Russian officials were being treated in a Moscow hospital. It added that Vladimir Putin himself was treated in hospital.

Details of the bomb shelter

The shelter was designed to accommodate 800 people, including medical staff and employees. It will also reportedly provide radiation protection and have multiple entrances, an emergency exit and a sophisticated ventilation system capable of purging the air of “gas weapons of mass destruction” and aerosols. Medical staff will be trained to carry out “wartime procedures”.

Has Vladimir Putin issued such an order before?

The Moscow Times earlier reported that the Kremlin ordered an upgrade of air-raid shelters across Russia in October 2022. The publication reported that open-source data showed that the process of repairing the bomb shelters had been carried out across Russia.

Why did Vladimir Putin make this decision?

The developments came as Russia blamed Ukraine for a massive drone attack on Moscow – the first since Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion last February. The Russian president accused Kiev of trying to provoke a mirror reaction from Moscow. The Russian Ministry of Defense has accused Ukraine of using at least eight drones to carry out “terrorist attacks”. Ukraine has denied responsibility for the attacks. Ukraine has also denied responsibility for two drones that crashed into the Moscow Kremlin on May 3.