Vladimir Putin has totally demolished one of his main palaces amid claims he is now scared to spend time at his favourite Black Sea boltholes that sit within range of Ukraine‘s kamikaze drones.
The Russian President, who turns 72 today, is ‘truly afraid’ of being killed by an unmanned projectile piloted by Kyiv, a new investigation by independent media outlet Proekt has claimed.
In recent years Putin has frequently visited Stalin-designed Bocharov Ruchey palace overlooking the Black Sea in Sochi.
He also boasts a £1 billion private clifftop retreat to the northwest in Gelendzhik, often likened to the lair of a James Bond villain thanks to its entertainment-packed upper stories concealing a network of tunnels and bunkers below ground.
These lavish homes were seen as his ‘love nests’, with independent media speculating that the Russian President embarked on getaways with his secret partner, former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 41, and their two young children.
But it has emerged that the Bocharov Ruchey palace was suddenly bulldozed, with fresh satellite pictures obtained by Proekt showing the site has been reduced to an earth pit.
The Bocharov Ruchey palace was reportedly suddenly bulldozed
Satellite pictures showed the empty plot of land where the Bocharov Ruchey palace once stood
Putin’s Bocharov Ruchey state residence as seen on February 6, 2014 in Sochi, Russia
Putin reportedly spent time at his Black Sea palaces with his secret partner, former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 41, and their two young children
The Russian President, who turns 72 today, is ‘truly afraid’ of being killed by an unmanned projectile piloted by Kyiv, a new investigation by independent media outlet Proekt has claimed
The report claimed that Putin has shunned Sochi and the Krasnodar region since last year, when Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian territory began in earnest.
Ukrainian aerial attacks have hit various targets in both the Sochi and Gelendzhik areas, prompting the Russian President to forego his usual trips to the regions despite evidence his palaces are guarded with sophisticated air defence systems.
Bocharov Ruchey is said to have been flattened in February and March of this year.
The Proekt report stated: ‘The [Bocharov Ruchey] building was demolished to the ground. A lot of questions remain.
‘First of all, why did a luxurious residence need to be demolished given it had been renovated 10 years ago?
‘The answer is, probably, obvious… Because of drone attacks, the president is afraid of being on the Black Sea coast of Krasnodar region.’
The report added: ‘In 2023, Putin felt a threat to his physical safety and got scared. A Putin acquaintance confirmed to Proekt that the president is truly afraid to fly south.’
In 2013, Putin used Bocharov Ruchey to host then-UK premier David Cameron for talks.
One theory is that Putin has demolished the place and is using the war as an excuse to build a new and more luxurious palace at the site of a building completed by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
A new development could have superior bunker facilities for the Russian leader whose paranoia over potential attempts on his life has grown significantly since the invasion of Ukraine.
Proekt underscored that the Russian people have not been informed about the demolishing of Bocharov Ruchey, given the residences linked to Putin are located in protected areas.
Vladimir Putin received UK Prime Minister David Cameron at Sochi’s Bocharov Ruchey residence in May 2013
Ukrainian drones were shot down close to Bocharov Ruchey late last year
Alexander Lukashenko arrives to see Vladimir Putin in September 2022 at – reportedly – Bocharov Ruchey residence in Sochi, Russia
As Russian President, Putin has endeavoured to project an image of frugality throughout his more than two decades in power.
But while he has free-rein of the grand halls of the Moscow Kremlin and other state-owned luxuries, the Russian public are told little of his vast private wealth.
Over the years, details of Putin’s reported property empire have grown thanks to investigations into his highly secretive family life and personal affairs.
Some Russian and Western sources even say Putin, 71, is the richest billionaire in the world thanks to his alleged stakes in the fortunes of his oligarch cronies.
His wealth came under the spotlight again in the build up to Russia’s presidential election.
It emerged earlier this year that the President failed to include most of his lavish properties and luxury yachts on his official wealth declaration before standing for six more years as Russia’s despotic president.
Including his pension from his years as a KGB spy and salary as Russian president, he claimed in the declaration to have earned £593,537 in the past six years.
He had £477,989 in bank accounts, according to his return.
This is still well-off by Russian standards, where the average annual salary is estimated to be around 1.2 million rubles, a little under £11,000.
Putin also declared a 1,654 sq ft flat in Moscow and another at 829 sq ft in St Petersburg, as well as two Soviet-era vehicles and a 2009 Niva vehicle, a Lada off-roader, and a Skif trailer dating from communist times in 1987.
This is not the first secret property linked to Putin that has come to light.
One such property sits atop cliffs overlooking the Black Sea in Gelendzhik, on 168-acres of land in a spot known as Cape Idokopas.
The vast luxury £1 billion ‘palace’ includes a pole-dancing hookah boudoir, casino, and ‘aqua disco’, according to a 2021 investigation.
It is also said to have a 16-storey underground complex which has been compared with the lair of a James Bond villain.
Pictured: A vast luxury £1 billion ‘palace’, said to be owned by Putin, which includes a pole-dancing hookah boudoir, casino, and ‘aqua disco’, according to a 2021 investigation
Alexi Navalny’s team were able to create 3D images of the interiors based on the floor plans, which included this reading room
Before being jailed, Navalny claimed in 2021 to be in possession of leaked floor plans of Putin’s lavish property on Russia’s southern Black Sea coast which have been used to draw up artists’ impressions of the palace’s interior
Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who is currently in prison in Russia, claimed a strip club, casino and a theatre are among a series of luxurious rooms inside President Putin’s £1billion ‘palace’
Satellite images over the Black Sea palace show a vast building 600 feet from the sea, surrounded by impressive looking grounds, a dock and what appears to be a landing strip
A mining engineer who worked on the construction said it had indeed been built for the dictator and ‘there is a whole anthill in the rock under the house’ including a nuclear shelter.
The subterranean maze includes a cliff face loggia overlooking the sea and a vast wine cellar. Its construction was more ingenious than Dr No’s bunker, he said.
It was ‘a balcony – literally a loggia hanging over the sea’ built into the cliff, from which the owner can enjoy wine tasting from the palace stocks, he said.
The palace sits around 1.3 miles from the small village of Praskoveevka, which itself sits on the Black Sea coast some 100 miles from both Crimea to the north-west and Sochi to the south-east.
Satellite images over the area show a vast palatial building 600 feet from the sea, surrounded by impressive looking grounds.
There are also outbuildings, each very large in their own right, as well as what appears to be a private landing strip and a dock easily large enough for a yacht.
Roads leading to the palace grounds wind down the hills, and from the satellite images, appear to be lined with other buildings, likely security checkpoints.
A team which worked with Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny were the ones to unveil the property’s alleged owner in 2021.
In a 2-hour video, Navalny claimed at the time to be in possession of leaked floor plans of the property which were used to draw up artists’ impressions of the interior.
Astonishing 3D images of the estate’s interior alleged the palace features an arcade room with slot machines and a dance mat, a spa and a theatre inside the mansion, along with an underground ice rink and even vineyards in the grounds.
In another investigation, this time carried out by Proekt last year, revealed that Putin shared another palace north of Moscow at Valdai with secret partner and famous gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 40, living like a Tsar and Tsarina with their young children.
‘Comparing Kabaeva to a medieval ruler is absolutely appropriate,’ states the report.
‘In the course of this investigation, Proekt journalists have established many facts about the relationship between the Russian president and his mistress, all of which seem to have been copied from medieval history books.’
This high-security complex even has his and hers palaces.
Vladimir Putin’s alleged palace in Valdai, Russia, where a report says he spends time with his secret family, including his secret partner and famous gymnast Alina Kabaeva
Alina Kabaeva and Vladimir Putin are seen together at an event in the Kremlin
A dining room is seen inside a mansion that is understood to belong to Vladimir Putin and his secret wife
An image from Google Maps shows the purported location of what the report says is Vladimir Putin’s secret lakeside residence in Russia’s Valdai region
A second mansion is seen near the main mansion, believed to be Alina Kabaeva’s house in Valdai. She is understood to be Vladimir Putin’s secret wife
The ‘royal residence’ at Valdai began to be constructed ‘almost immediately after Putin came to power’ at the turn of the millennium, the report said.
The despot demanded that it would be styled ‘like St Petersburg’, meaning in the lavish manner of the Russian tsars.
‘In 2013, Putin officially divorced [former first lady] Lyudmila, but he never stopped loving Valdai. It was here -at first, apparently, in the same ”golden” house – that he brought his new mistress [Kabaeva].’
The report states: ‘He later built a new wooden mansion for Kabaeva and her children. It is located about 800 metres from the ”golden” house. Construction of the house for Kabaeva began in 2020.’
Satellite images shared by the publication purportedly show the properties and the nearby station. Similar private stations for Putin have been built at his residence in Sochi and Novo-Ogaryovo, near Moscow.
It was also reported that a Pantsir-1S air defence system was installed in the nearby village of Yashcherovo after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kabaeva does not feature on his declaration, and he has never acknowledged a relationship with her despite this being seen as fact by most Russians.
Missing, too, from the declaration is his lake-and-forest bolthole in the north of Russia where he is alleged to have ‘stolen’ a scenic waterfall near Lake Ladoga, and built a sumptuous retreat around it with vast fenced-off territory.
This is just 18 miles from Finland, a new NATO country that joined following Putin’s 2022 invasion, and reportedly boasts £8,000 bidets.
Allegedly the property’s nearby neighbour just two-and-a-half miles away is former Chelsea tycoon, Roman Abramovich, 57.
Missing, too, from Putin’s declaration of wealth is a lake-and-forest bolthole in the north of Russia where he is alleged to have ‘stolen’ a scenic waterfall near Lake Ladoga, and built a sumptuous retreat around it with vast fenced-off territory
It is alleged in a video that Putin has a modernistic gazebo in full view of the waterfall beauty spot (pictured), sealed off from ordinary Russian people
According to unverified reports in Russia, Putin is accused of ‘stealing’ a scenic waterfall (pictured) and a slice of commandeered national park for his lake-and-forest retreat
The narrator of the footage claims that the secret bolthole which Putin is said to share with Kabaeva, 40, is beside the picturesque 13ft Marjalahti waterfall.
It has a modernistic gazebo in full view of the beauty spot, sealed off from ordinary Russian people, according to independent news outlet Dossier Centre.
Google Maps shows at least one of the buildings – with a helipad – at the location but it is not clear whether the video uses a combination of drone footage and CGI images to give such a detailed view.
The retreat is supposedly in the Lake Ladoga National Park in Karelia – as far north as the Faroe Islands – but close to the Russian NATO border with Finland.
The video goes on to say that there are several buildings and a tell-tale sign that this is part of a huge Putin portfolio of secret homes and palaces hidden from the Russian people.