 "Why has Putin demolished his beloved summer palace in southern Russia?")
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly demolished one of his ‘love nests’ over growing fears of Ukrainian drone strikes.
The Bocharov Ruchey residence appeared to have been torn down in February or March, according to satellite images obtained by the Russian opposition outlet Proekt.
Here’s all we know about it.
The summer residence
Located in southern Russia, Bocharov Ruchey overlooks the Black Sea in Sochi.
The palace was built by the Soviet Union as a summer residence for Kremlin leaders. Putin renovated it to suit his opulent “working-from-home” tastes.
Before being reportedly demolished, it boosted a combination of luxury accommodations to relax, impressive meeting rooms to host guests and a suite of offices from where he remotely conducted his affairs.
Proekt said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Putin isolated himself at the extravagant property, enjoying the temperate Black Sea climate. He even had a copy of his office at his residence in Moscow built in the dacha to give the impression that he was in the Russian capital.
Putin, who turned 72 years old on Monday, has hosted US President George Bush, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, and head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi.
Often seen as his “love nests,” independent media speculates that Putin embarked on getaways with his secret partner, former Russian Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva , 41, and their two young children. He used to spend about 40 days a year in the dacha.
Is it demolished?
Putin’s favourite holiday villa has reportedly been destroyed over growing fears of Ukrainian drone strikes, as per Proekt, which is run by Russian journalists living in exile and specialises in investigations into the Kremlin.
Bocharov Ruchey is shown in two “before and after” satellite photos from May 2023 and May 2024. The big red-roofed dacha is seen in the photo taken a year ago. But the dacha has been replaced in the May 2024 photo by a sandy-coloured scar that looks like a demolition site.
No other buildings have been touched.
Firstpost has not independently verified the photos.
It is pertinent to mention here that Putin has even visited the property only once this year, in March, due to Ukrainian drones striking Sochi with increasing frequency.
Proekt quoted a source close to Putin as saying, “Putin last flew to Sochi seven months ago. He even broke a long-standing tradition of coming to Sochi to celebrate Alina’s birthday in May.”
“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.”
This destruction of the residence, in February and March of this year, reportedly had been kept secret because, like many of the villas Putin uses, it is in historically or ecologically protected areas.
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 the building.
Several reports have suggested that the Russian president is paranoid about being assassinated and has even reduced his travel commitments since Ukraine’s invasion in 2022. He prefers to travel by armoured train and has reduced air travel to only when he runs out of options.
Other lavish properties
Well, the Sochi residence wasn’t Putin’s only luxurious residence.
He also owns an official residence on the outskirts of Moscow, a secret dacha in occupied Crimea and a holiday home in the Karelia region, near Finland.
One of his most opulent dachas sits atop cliffs overlooking the Black Sea in Gelendzhik, on 168-acres of land in a spot known as Cape Idokopas.
Dubbed “Putin’s Palace,” the dacha was built in an ornate Italian fashion and hosts a pole-dancing hookah boudoir, casino, and “aqua disco,” according to a 2021 investigation.
It also has a 16-story underground complex, which has been compared with the lair of a James Bond villain.
Several media reports suggest that Putin’s one dacha in the remote Altai region had burnt down in May.
Putin’s wealth in the spotlight
The latest reports of the demolished Sochi palace have once again brought Putin’s extravagant wealth in the limelight.
The 72-year-old, who has been in power for more than two decades, has gathered vast wealth, about which little is known to the world.
According to some Russian and Western sources, he is the richest billionaire in the world.
Putin and his wealth had earlier made headlines during the presidential elections when he failed to include most of his lavish properties and luxury yachts on his official wealth declaration, including his pension from his years as a KGB spy and salary as president.
Putin had declared a 1,654 square feet flat in Moscow and another at 829 square feet 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.
He declared that he had $6,25,785 in bank accounts and $7,77,061 in earnings over the previous six years.
Even by Russian standards, where the average yearly salary is reported to be a little under $14,401, this is quite good earnings.
With inputs from agencies
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