Fear of attack

Putin had luxury villa on the Black Sea demolished

(Bild: x.com/wwwproektmedia)

The Russian president has apparently razed his luxury villa on the Black Sea to the ground - Vladimir Putin has apparently had his summer residence in Sochi torn down for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks. 

Sochi is extremely popular with Russians as a spa and seaside resort - but the invasion war in Ukraine has apparently made the summer vacation destination unattractive for Putin. Where his personal residence "Botsharov Ruchey" once stood, an empty area can now be seen, as reported by the independent Russian media company "Proekt". 

The site before and after the villa was demolished: 

The villa can still be seen on these satellite images from last year, but a year later not a single building can be recognized. "He no longer flies to Sochi because he fears for his life. The president fears drone attacks," wrote "Proekt" about the pictures.

Office in luxury villa looked like the one in the Kremlin
The villa used to have its own access road, beach access and a helipad. Apparently, Putin's summer residence was not short on work either: He is said to have set up an office there that looks exactly like the one in the Kremlin. This allowed Putin to pretend that he was in Moscow instead of on vacation in Sochi. He is said to have spent up to 37 days a year there, but his last stay was seven months ago. 

The concerns of Russia's ruler are probably not unfounded. A year ago in September, fuel tanks blew up near Sochi airport. Shortly afterwards, the airport became the target of a drone attack.