Vladimir Putin has sacked the head of Russia’s Aerospace Forces as he grows increasingly paranoid over Ukrainian drone attacks ahead of his Victory Day parade in Moscow.
General Viktor Afzalov, who headed the branch responsible for Russia’s air defences, is being replaced by Colonel General Alexander Chaiko after just three years in the role, Russian media has reported.
Incoming Chaiko is a veteran commander who led Russian forces in Syria from 2019 to 2021. In 2020, he was awarded the Hero of Russia medal by Putin.
The Kremlin is yet to comment on Putin’s decision for the shakeup, but the move comes amid a surge in Ukrainian drone strikes over the last two months, causing significant damage to Russia’s energy infrastructure.
It also follows a report from a European intelligence agency that the Russian president is becoming increasingly paranoid that his own entourage is plotting a coup against him, with a former defence minister identified as a ‘potential destabilising actor’.
The Kremlin has, in turn, dramatically increased the president’s personal security, installing surveillance systems in the homes of close staffers, following a wave of assassinations of top Russian military figures.
The report describes ‘high alert’ in the government since the beginning of March 2026, about ‘the risk of a plot or coup attempt against the Russian president’.
‘Putin fears the use of drones for a possible assassination attempt by members of the Russian political elite,’ it reads.
General Viktor Afzalov has been sacked as head of Russia’s Aerospace Forces
Vladimir Putin is said to have become increasingly paranoid over Ukrainian drone strikes and that his own entourage is plotting a coup against him
Troops march during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade at the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tuesday, May 5, 2026
The most striking conclusion concerns former Putin confidante, Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s former defence minister and current secretary of the Security Council.
He is associated with the risk of a coup, as he ‘retains significant influence within the military high command,’ the report says.
According to the dossier, cooks, bodyguards and photographers who work with Putin are prohibited from travelling on public transport, visitors to the dictator must be screened twice, and those working close to him can only use phones without internet access.
The report adds that the ‘Kremlin and Vladimir Putin himself have been concerned about potential leaks of sensitive information’.
Some of the security measures were put in place in recent months following the December killing of Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, who served as head of the general staff’s army operational training directorate.
He died after an explosive device detonated beneath his car, in what Moscow claimed was likely an assassination carried out by Ukraine.
The alleged assassination of Sarvarov sparked uproar in the top ranks of Russia’s security establishment, the report says, with Putin summoning key personnel three days later for an urgent meeting.
The Russian leader subsequently extended the reach of his own Federal Protection Service (FSO) to provide security to ten more senior commanders.
As well as the assassinations, unease is growing in the Kremlin due to increasing signs of public dissent amid the downfall of the economy and the Russian army’s faltering military campaign in Ukraine.
In response, Russian security officials have dramatically cut the number of locations that Putin regularly visits, and he and his family have stopped attending their usual residences in the Moscow region and at Valdai – the dictator’s heavily fortified summer retreat which lies between St Petersburg and the capital.
Russian Federal Guard Service (FSO) officers patrol central Moscow on May 5, 2026, in front of the Kremlin, few days ahead of the Victory Day military parade, to be held at Red Square on May 9
And on Tuesday, Putin cut mobile internet connection in Moscow ahead of Russia’s Victory Day parade.
‘During the preparations for and the running of the festive events from May 5 to 9, there may be temporary restrictions on mobile internet and text messaging in Moscow and the Moscow region,’ mobile operator MTS said in a message to its subscribers.
A few hours later, Russia’s digital ministry said that access to mobile internet in Moscow had been restored, adding that the ‘targeted’ outages helped ‘to reduce the accuracy of drones and to counterattack.’
Internet blackouts have become a frequent part of life in border regions in recent months.
Russia says the intermittent shutdowns are necessary to thwart Ukrainian drones, which connect via local networks.
Kyiv has intensified its retaliatory long-range drone strikes in recent weeks, hitting Russian oil facilities and a luxury high-rise building in Moscow.
Ukraine calls them a fair response to the nightly barrages of hundreds of drones that Russia fires on its cities.
The Kremlin has said it will scale down its grand parade marking the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, excluding cadets and military hardware from the annual show of force on May 9.
Last year, Ukraine sought to disrupt the event by launching swarms of explosive-laden drones at Moscow, causing travel chaos, with thousands of flights cancelled or delayed.
Putin regularly invokes the memory of World War II – a central narrative of his quarter-century rule – to justify his offensive against Ukraine.
