Apparently, Vladimir Putin and his cronies already have a plan in place to flee Russia if the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate, The Daily Beast reports. This is according to a former aide to the Russian President.

In a Telegram post early Wednesday, Abbas Gallyamov, formerly a speechwriter for Putin made the stunning claim. Citing an anonymous source, that Gallymov claimed had “insider” information, the evacuation plan, he said, began being put in place last spring and was unofficially dubbed “Noah’s Ark.

“As the name implies, it’s about a search for new land to go to in case it becomes completely uncomfortable in the homeland,” Gallyamov wrote. “The leader’s entourage has not ruled out that he will lose the war, be stripped of power, and have to urgently evacuate somewhere.”

Gallyamov added that those in Putin’s orbit had also considered a plan to evacuate to China, but this plan was scuppered because there were fears that “cooperation” from the Chinese government wasn’t likely to happen because the Chinese “despise losers,” per the Daily Beast. So now, the attention has shifted to Venezuela or Argentina. Putin’s ally Igor Sechin is currently reviewing an evacuation plan for Argentina.

And the plan has moved so far along, Gallyamov writes, that Sechin’s “right-hand man” at Rosneft has handed in his resignation at the oil giant and will only handle “on-site work.”

Another Telegram channel, Mozhem Obyasnit is coloring in the story a bit more, referencing two additional sources close to Putin’s administration as well as a source at Rosneft. Apparently, high-ranking officials have already purchased real estate and taking steps to gain residency rights in Venezuela. Others who are lower ranking in the Putin administration and the Russian government are looking to Ecuador, Paraguay, and Argentina, according to the report.

And another source is saying Russian officials have snatched up property on Venezuela’s Margarita Island, where they believe they will be safe from extradition.

“The Island of Margarita in Venezuela is their local Courchevel,” the unnamed source said, comparing the Kremlin’s possible new digs to a famed ski resort in the French Alps.

Then there’s this, from The Daily Beast, and I don’t think I could put this any better myself:

“Conceding that he had no further details, Gallyamov said that the sheer fact of an evacuation plan ‘is enough to understand’ that ‘when they say everything is going to plan,’ it’s worth asking which one. They seem to have many more than one plan.”

This rather shocking report comes as Putin keeps playing down reports that morale is plunging to record depths as troops weary as this war has continued to drag on for nine months. And more and more reports have emerged in the past few weeks that crowds of draftees have been fleeing their bases after their complaints of shoddy equipment and supplies fell on deaf ears. To make the situation even worse, the number of family members of the troops rising up to publicly excoriate the so-called “special military operation” has prompted some experts to suggest a full-blown civil war may erupt.

Putin, however, is painting a rosy picture.

“There are no problems with desertion in the zone of the [special military operation]. There were isolated incidents, but on the whole, there’s nothing like that. …Are there people who leave their positions? Yes, that has happened,” Putin told members of Russia’s human rights council on Wednesday. “It’s happening less and less.”

He went on to deny reports by human rights organizations that “camps” where hundreds of Russian defectors are being forcibly detained in basements have been set up and called these reports “fake.” Then he warned that the war is likely to be a “long process.” Putin also praised the seizure of Ukrainian territories (most, however, have already been reclaimed by Ukraine). He ominously warned that the possibility of nuclear war is edging closer.

“Such a threat is growing,” he warned. “Why deny it?”

It’s bad enough that we have to deal with fascism that continues to grow in the U.S. but this is definitely scary. I don’t know what President Joe Biden’s administration is doing about this but it’s my hope that cooler heads will prevail.

Because if not, then I don’t know what to think.