Russian President Vladimir Putin supposedly demolished his beloved summer residence in southern Russia due to his fear of being killed in a Ukrainian drone strike.
The Bocharov Ruchey residence in Sochi appeared to have been torn down in February or March, leaving a dirt pit and construction materials behind, according to satellite images obtained by the Russian opposition outlet Proekt.
Putin, 72, allegedly felt a “threat to his physical safety” at the Black Sea resort after Sochi was hit by multiple drone attacks, Proekt said.
In September 2023, in particular, plumes of smoke and flames were seen at the site of a blitzed oil depot not far from the sprawling property.
The theory that Putin was deliberately avoiding the retreat due to anxiety about a potentially fatal drone strike was confirmed by a source close to the matter, the outlet claimed.
Putin typically spent at least 30 days per year at the sprawling complex, which was renovated in 2014 for the Sochi Olympics, the Moscow Times reported.
His visits to the residence, however, started to taper off after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2023, he only spent eight days there, and he is not believed to have been to the compound at all since March this year, the outlet said.
Putin’s last visit to Bocharov Ruchey was supposedly on March 6, when he hosted a meeting with Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in the reception house on the property, Proekt said.
He notably did not seem to have returned for the annual birthday celebration of his rumored partner, Alina Kabayeva, in May.
