Putin tears down favourite holiday villa over threat of Ukrainian drones
October 8, 2024
Putin tears down favourite holiday villa over threat of Ukrainian drones
by TheTelegraph
25 comments
**From The Telegraph’s James Kilner:**
Vladimir Putin has demolished his favourite Black Sea holiday villa, where regular [Ukrainian drone attacks](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/russia-ukraine-war/) have made the area dangerous to visit.
Satellite images published by the Russian opposition website Proekt showed a gaping hole in the ground where [Putin](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/vladimir-putin/)’s dacha near Sochi had once stood.
“He has stopped flying to Sochi out of fear for his own life. The president fears drone attacks,” Proekt said in commentary underneath the photos. “The site of the dacha is now a pit.”
Proekt, which is run by Russian journalists living in exile, specialises in investigations into the Kremlin. It published a “before and after” pair of satellite images showing the dacha in May 2023 and May 2024.
In the May 2023 photo, the large red-roofed dacha – typically a summer house for Russians – is clearly visible. It is set slightly back from the Black Sea in sprawling grounds that include several outbuildings.
In the May 2024 photo, the red-roofed dacha has disappeared and has instead been replaced by a sandy-coloured scar that resembles a demolition site. An access track, also a sandy-coloured scar, runs south from the site.
No other buildings have been touched. Foliage around the grounds of the dacha is heavier and denser, suggesting 12 months of growth.
The Telegraph has not independently verified the photos and the Kremlin has not commented.
The dacha, called Bocharov Ruchey, had been considered perhaps Putin’s favourite villa.
But Ukrainian drones have been striking Sochi with increasing frequency over the past 12 months. This has appears to have spooked Putin, who has only visited Bocharov Ruchey once this year, in March to host Rafael Gossi, head of the UN’s atomic agency.
“Putin last flew to Sochi seven months ago,” a source, described as “being familiar with Putin”, told Proekt. “He even broke a long-standing tradition of coming to Sochi to celebrate Alina’s birthday in May.”
Bocharov Ruchey was built by the Soviet Union as a summer residence for Kremlin leaders. Putin renovated it to suit his opulent “working-from-home” tastes. He likes to blend luxury accommodation where he can relax with family and friends, with heavy-set meeting rooms to host guests and offices with banks of telephones where he can remotely conduct his affairs.
Proekt said that during the Covid pandemic, Putin isolated himself at Bocharov Ruchey, 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 is paranoid about being assassinated and has reduced his travel commitments since he invaded Ukraine in 2022. He prefers to travel by armoured train if possible and has cut air travel.
Another source, described as a” friend of Putin”, told Proekt that Kremlin officials had not been ordered to Bocharov Ruchey this year.
“They discuss it among themselves and are surprised that they have stopped being invited to meetings in Sochi,” he said.
Putin is chilling at mar-a-lago with his boy toy trump.
Fuuuuu
Wait is this the dacha with the hockey rink?
Insert <taking my ball and going home meme> here
He couldn’t just sell it. Noone can own a house lived in. The master, the leader. It’s his or noones.
My assumption would be, that the picture labelled 2024 is actually from the initial construction phase, when ever that was?
The cynic in me thinks he’s probably just moved the dacha underground by piling a heap of sand on top, to fool the satellites.
Or, he may be reading this and thinking, “Dang, should have thought of that.”
It probably wasn’t built with sufficiently deep bunkers, communication systems and air defense systems. Or perhaps it doesn’t have enough standoff space from properties surrounding it. He will build new there or elsewhere
Can’t sell it with all the secret KGB shit in it. Thats why they teared it down. No reports possible how he lived there.
or he could be building a giant sex basement for him and fat kim jong un.
You didn’t fire me, I quit!
Talk about cutting off the nose to spite the face…
He’s probably building an underground bunker.
Must have cost a few rubles.
You can’t destroy it if I destroy it first.
They will build a new and modern building there. Simple!
I very much doubt that this is anything to do with fear of drones; I expect that they are simple redeveloping the site with more modern facilities. The old building dates from the 1950s and probably needed total refurbishment anyway.
They cut a line of trees towards another house there, was there some kind of escape tunnel or something there they destroyed or am I overthinking it and was it just a route they used to remove the rubble after destroying the house?
Soon they will build a new villa/bunker /s
Has he tore down the nuclear shelter that’s underneath? That’s where he’ll be…….
Why even bother tearing it down? Just dont use it anymore. Idk, for me this is irrelevant news/could even be fakenews. Could be that they just build something new there or whatever.
He doesn’t want Ukrainians to loot his Berghof.
Nobody gets the honor of bombing Putins house
Honestly, what fascist wasn’t truly scared of their own life when they realised NO ONE is their friend. They start a machine that turns out to be more than the sum of its parts. Suddenly, opportunists are propping you, the fascist, up, and you have no exit once this machine (or ball) starts rolling. You cop all the glamour and vitriol while the backseat drivers get away with profit and murder.
Here we are, if this post is to be believed, standard operating fascist behaviour.
25 comments
**From The Telegraph’s James Kilner:**
Vladimir Putin has demolished his favourite Black Sea holiday villa, where regular [Ukrainian drone attacks](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/russia-ukraine-war/) have made the area dangerous to visit.
Satellite images published by the Russian opposition website Proekt showed a gaping hole in the ground where [Putin](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/vladimir-putin/)’s dacha near Sochi had once stood.
“He has stopped flying to Sochi out of fear for his own life. The president fears drone attacks,” Proekt said in commentary underneath the photos. “The site of the dacha is now a pit.”
Proekt, which is run by Russian journalists living in exile, specialises in investigations into the Kremlin. It published a “before and after” pair of satellite images showing the dacha in May 2023 and May 2024.
In the May 2023 photo, the large red-roofed dacha – typically a summer house for Russians – is clearly visible. It is set slightly back from the Black Sea in sprawling grounds that include several outbuildings.
In the May 2024 photo, the red-roofed dacha has disappeared and has instead been replaced by a sandy-coloured scar that resembles a demolition site. An access track, also a sandy-coloured scar, runs south from the site.
No other buildings have been touched. Foliage around the grounds of the dacha is heavier and denser, suggesting 12 months of growth.
The Telegraph has not independently verified the photos and the Kremlin has not commented.
The dacha, called Bocharov Ruchey, had been considered perhaps Putin’s favourite villa.
Data from the Kremlin showed that he used to spend as many as 37 days a year in the dacha, hosting foreign guests and celebrating birthdays with [his secret lover](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/09/05/putin-has-two-secret-sons-who-love-disney/), the Russian gymnast [Alina Kabaeva](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/23/secret-life-alina-kabaeva-star-gymnast-became-putins-eva-braun/), and their two young sons.
But Ukrainian drones have been striking Sochi with increasing frequency over the past 12 months. This has appears to have spooked Putin, who has only visited Bocharov Ruchey once this year, in March to host Rafael Gossi, head of the UN’s atomic agency.
“Putin last flew to Sochi seven months ago,” a source, described as “being familiar with Putin”, told Proekt. “He even broke a long-standing tradition of coming to Sochi to celebrate Alina’s birthday in May.”
Bocharov Ruchey was built by the Soviet Union as a summer residence for Kremlin leaders. Putin renovated it to suit his opulent “working-from-home” tastes. He likes to blend luxury accommodation where he can relax with family and friends, with heavy-set meeting rooms to host guests and offices with banks of telephones where he can remotely conduct his affairs.
Proekt said that during the Covid pandemic, Putin isolated himself at Bocharov Ruchey, 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 is paranoid about being assassinated and has reduced his travel commitments since he invaded Ukraine in 2022. He prefers to travel by armoured train if possible and has cut air travel.
Another source, described as a” friend of Putin”, told Proekt that Kremlin officials had not been ordered to Bocharov Ruchey this year.
“They discuss it among themselves and are surprised that they have stopped being invited to meetings in Sochi,” he said.
**Article Link:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/07/putin-tears-down-his-favourite-black-sea-holiday-villa-over/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/07/putin-tears-down-his-favourite-black-sea-holiday-villa-over/)
Putin is chilling at mar-a-lago with his boy toy trump.
Fuuuuu
Wait is this the dacha with the hockey rink?
Insert <taking my ball and going home meme> here
He couldn’t just sell it. Noone can own a house lived in. The master, the leader. It’s his or noones.
My assumption would be, that the picture labelled 2024 is actually from the initial construction phase, when ever that was?
The cynic in me thinks he’s probably just moved the dacha underground by piling a heap of sand on top, to fool the satellites.
Or, he may be reading this and thinking, “Dang, should have thought of that.”
It probably wasn’t built with sufficiently deep bunkers, communication systems and air defense systems. Or perhaps it doesn’t have enough standoff space from properties surrounding it. He will build new there or elsewhere
Can’t sell it with all the secret KGB shit in it. Thats why they teared it down. No reports possible how he lived there.
or he could be building a giant sex basement for him and fat kim jong un.
You didn’t fire me, I quit!
Talk about cutting off the nose to spite the face…
He’s probably building an underground bunker.
Must have cost a few rubles.
You can’t destroy it if I destroy it first.
They will build a new and modern building there. Simple!
I very much doubt that this is anything to do with fear of drones; I expect that they are simple redeveloping the site with more modern facilities. The old building dates from the 1950s and probably needed total refurbishment anyway.
They cut a line of trees towards another house there, was there some kind of escape tunnel or something there they destroyed or am I overthinking it and was it just a route they used to remove the rubble after destroying the house?
Soon they will build a new villa/bunker /s
Has he tore down the nuclear shelter that’s underneath?
That’s where he’ll be…….
Why even bother tearing it down? Just dont use it anymore. Idk, for me this is irrelevant news/could even be fakenews. Could be that they just build something new there or whatever.
He doesn’t want Ukrainians to loot his Berghof.
Nobody gets the honor of bombing Putins house
Honestly, what fascist wasn’t truly scared of their own life when they realised NO ONE is their friend. They start a machine that turns out to be more than the sum of its parts. Suddenly, opportunists are propping you, the fascist, up, and you have no exit once this machine (or ball) starts rolling. You cop all the glamour and vitriol while the backseat drivers get away with profit and murder.
Here we are, if this post is to be believed, standard operating fascist behaviour.