Vladimir Putin’s top security official has vanished during efforts to end the war in Ukraine, amid swirling health rumours and claims he could be caught up in a corruption probe. Sergei Shoigu, 69, is a Russian army general and currently the secretary of the powerful Russian Security Council.

He served as defence minister for most of the war in Ukraine before being replaced one year ago, and is a very well-known member of Putin's entourage. Speculation is swirling in Moscow after he missed the Red Square parade on Friday amid claims his absence was health-related. But an explanation that he was undergoing a “routine medical examination” at a “sanatorium” was not seen as plausible.

No top Russian official would have a “routine” health check on the most important day in the country’s calendar.

Nezygar Telegram politics channel said his daughter Ksenia, 34, had “searched for her father for a long time but couldn’t find him on Red Square”.

Previously, holders of the national security post have always attended.

One theory is that Putin, 72, is refusing to save Shoigu from being “drawn into criminal investigations into corruption at the Ministry of Defence”, which has seen some of his former closest lieutenants arrested in large scale embezzlement probes.

This is “likely, since according to the investigation, no corruption activity could have taken place without the defence minister’s sanction, due to specific administrative procedures”, said the channel.

If so, Shoigu - who was seen on duty the day before the Red Square parade - could face arrest.

Nezygar alleged: “Financial movements across the bank accounts of Shoigu, his relatives, and close associates do not match the sums of their legal income.

“In the case of a public court trial, these facts - confirmed by individuals already involved in criminal cases - will be difficult to hide.”

Another channel alleged there was evidence of “suspicious transactions tied to his daughters, trusted associates, and ‘support structures’ responsible for logistics, construction, and procurement.”

Shoigu’s failure to appear at Red Square shows “clarity has emerged regarding his political future” in a country where Putin decides everything.

For years, Shoigu was Putin’s holiday companion on breaks in Siberia.

One picture shows them fishing topless in a mountain river in happier times.

Yet a video last year showed Putin’s frostiness when Shoigu came to shake his hand at an event.

The ex-defence minister is the longest serving continuous member of the Russian government - far longer than Putin.

His first appointment to a ministerial level role in Russia came during the Soviet era in 1991 when he was appointed Chairman of the State Committee for Civil Defence, a role which later became Minister of Emergencies.

His daughter Yulia, 48, is in charge of the ministry’s Centre for Emergency Psychological Assistance.

Ksenia runs a military museum where she has hosted Putin and her father.

A corruption scandal implicating Shoigu’s former underlings has seen a dozen key associates in his former ministry arrested and remanded in custody on myriad charges, with as many fired from the ministry during the war.

This includes Shoigu’s close associate Timur Ivanov, 49, formerly deputy defence minister, also with several high ranking commanders.

He was held on bribe-taking charges after being detained by armed secret servicemen in his doctor’s surgery last year.

Another theory suggests Shoigu could be stripped of his security role but made a senator to avoid the corruption scandal reaching too close to Putin.

Yet another version is that Putin will take revenge on Shoigu, blaming him for failing to give him the victory he craved in the war.