Mystery as secretive Putin colonel who carried Russian president’s nuclear briefcase is found gunned down at his home
A SECRETIVE colonel who carried the Russian president’s nuclear codes has been found shot at his home, it was reported.
Secretive Vadim Zimin, 53, is facing accusations of taking bribes in his new job in the customs service after quitting as an officer in the security services.
Zimin is a retired colonel in the Federal Security Service and had been in charge of the briefcase carrying the Russian nuclear controls, which always accompanies the Kremlin leader.
He is known to have performed this role as aide to former President Boris Yeltsin.
Zimin continued in the security service rising to the role of colonel under his successor Vladimir Putin.
But his precise role is unclear and only one picture of Zimin exists.
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He was found with gunshot wounds in the kitchen of his flat in Krasnogorsk, Moscow region.
Zimin was found by his brother, who had been reportedly in the bathroom at the time of Monday’s shooting.
He was lying in a pool of blood with a wound to the head and an Izh 79-9TM pistol was lying nearby.
At the time, his common law wife - a medic - was away treating the wounded from Putin’s war in Ukraine.
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The incident came as Zimin was facing criminal investigation for alleged bribe-taking after joining the customs service in a senior role, reported Moskovsky Komsomolets.
The secret briefcase is thought to contain the launch apparatus for the Kremlin's strategic missiles.
The bag, which has a personalised key code, is normally under 24/7 supervision and completely controls Moscow's nuclear arsenal.
It is reportedly supervised by an armed security officer who accompanies Putin wherever he travels.
The briefcase, called Cheget in Russian, was developed in the early 1980s and was shown to the world for first time in 2019, with its contents being viewed up close on TV.
Putin is known to taunt the West by insisting the officer carrying the nuclear codes is visible beside him.
He did this in April when attending the funeral of ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky in Moscow.
The visible presence of a top military officer with the briefcase was is thought to be a chilling sign warmongering Putin could deploy devastating nuclear weapons
According to local media, although the case is often seen in the hands of an aide alongside Putin, there are actually not just one but three in total.
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Each is accessible by the three most highly-ranked officials in the Russian Federation.
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Observers say the most unusual aspect of the briefcase is that the launch button is actually white and not red as is commonly thought.
