OSINT group identifies four of Putin’s bodyguards

Ukraine’s open-source intelligence analysis group OSINT Bees has identified four people said to be among Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest bodyguards.

Operative Information Center-OMM reports that the group announced the findings in a statement.

According to the group, the four are among Putin’s closest bodyguards and aides. They are alleged to sometimes stay in the same location as the president during his trips, including in rooms next to his.

OSINT Bees called them “adjutants” and compared them to people who served the tsars during the Russian Empire.

The group says all four are from Moscow or the Moscow region and serve in the Presidential Security Service of Russia’s Federal Protective Service. They are reportedly lieutenant colonels or hold lower ranks.

Who are Putin’s four aides?

Alexey Melnikov is 39. He is reportedly a graduate of the Federal Protective Service Academy. Photographs show him accompanying Putin on various official visits. The group also notes that photographs of him holidaying with his wife have surfaced.

Sergey Moskalenko is 43. Images circulated online show him with Putin at meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other world leaders. He is believed to have graduated from the Golitsyn Border Institute of Russia’s Federal Security Service.

Konstantin Panin is 43. He is often seen beside the president in photographs taken during Putin’s trips within Russia, according to the group.

Ivan Rozhko is 38. He is said to be from the settlement of Barybino in the Domodedovo district of the Moscow region. He is also described as a graduate of the Federal Protective Service Academy.

The group says the men frequently appear beside Putin in photographs and footage released by the Kremlin during his domestic and foreign trips. It also notes that publicly available information about their work and personal lives is limited.

Mark Galeotti, the author of a book about Putin, told Newsweek that the men were selected from the Presidential Security Service and knew how to behave when accompanying the president.