It probably isn’t outlandish to say that Vladimir Putin is the most hated man in the world right now.
Starting a war against a country full of innocent people who want nothing but to live in peace tends to have that effect, and was always likely to turn a fair few people against him.
A recent poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal found that just 4% of Americans approved of the Russian President.
Russia has been slapped with severe sanctions from the west, a broad and sweeping assault on the wallets of the country’s people that has been contributing to frequent reports of dissent and discontent.
US Senator Lindsey Graham stoked controversy when he tried to capitalise on this frustration, calling on Russians to take the life of their leader.
He said: “Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?
“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country and the world a great service.”
It wouldn’t be the first time attempts have been made on Putin's life, however, with the despot already reportedly having survived five assassination attempts.
How does Putin survive assassination attempts?
During a 2012 interview with filmmaker Oliver Stone for The Putin Interviews, the dictator detailed how he supposedly cheated death.
Stone said: “Three times President. Five assassination attempts I’m told.
“Not as much as [Fidel] Castro, who I’ve interviewed. I think he must have had 50 but there’s a legitimate five [assassination attempts against Putin] I’ve heard about.”
Putin responded: “Yes, I talked to Castro about that and he said to me: ‘Do you know why I’m still alive?’
“I asked him, ‘Why?’ [Castro said] ‘Because I was always the one to deal with my security personally.’
“I do my job, and the security officers do theirs, and they are still performing quite successfully.”
Stone followed up: “You trust your security and they’ve done a great job?”
“I trust them”.
For Putin, and his headquarters in the Kremlin, said security refers to a group of elite operators called the Presidential Regiment.
Guards man towers around the complex. The Express reports that members of the Regiment are expected to remain constantly alert and able to pick up whispers from 20 feet away.
Despite their reputation though, Stone asked: “Because always the first mode of assassination, [is that] you try to get inside the security of the president”.
Eerily, Putin responded: “Yes I know that. Do you know what they say among the Russian people?
“They say that ‘those that are destined to be hanged are not going to drown.’”
Asked what he thought his fate would likely be, he then said: “Only God knows our destiny. Yours and mine.
“One day [death] is going to happen to each and every one of us.
“The question is what we will have accomplished by then in this transient world and whether we will have enjoyed our life.”
The exact number of attempts made on Putin’s life is not confirmed.
What do we know about the assassination attempts of Vladimir Putin?
One attempt is thought to have taken place the funeral of Anatoly Sobchak in St. Petersburg, on February 24, 2000, although he was saved by his guard service.
According to Rense, Federal Guard Service press secretary, Sergei Devystov, said that "not a psychopath but a certain organization was behind the attempt."
CNN reports that a second took place that same year. The foiled attempt took place at a meeting of former Soviet nations, the Yalta summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
In attendance at the summit were leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Ukraine.
The news was first reported by Interfax, a Russian news agency. Ukraine's Security Service chief Leonid Derkach, said that his forces had foiled an attempt on the life of one of the leaders.
It was reported later by Russia Today that four Chechens and "several persons from Middle East countries", had been arrested.
Another attempt saw a man drive into the perimeter walls of the Kremlin and tell the guards: “My name is Ivan Zaitsev. I’m the President of Russia. Now take me to Vladimir Putin!”
Putin's security had the man arrested straight away.
