DEATH FROM ABOVE
Putin assassination fears as he deploys missiles to Black Sea mansion to protect from Ukrainian kamikaze drone attacks
It comes amid claims that Ukraine is hunting for the dictator
VLADIMIR Putin has deployed missiles to his favourite mansion overlooking the Black Sea after several drone attacks from Ukraine.
The dictator has been left fearing for his life after attacks from Ukraine drones successfully targeted the area surrounding Putin's palace in Sochi.
6
6
6
Dictator Putin, 71, often rules Russia from Sochi rather than Moscow and forces his court to move with him to the Black Sea.
The 190,000 square foot, billion dollar mansion by the Black Sea is fully equipped with everything the dictator could need.
Putin's palace has its own church, wine cellar, casino, hookah lounge, stripper pole, arboretum, ice rink and intense security systems.
Not only is it sealed off from the public by 17,000 acres of woodland and a no-fly zone overhead, but the autocrat also has a complex tunnel system designed for his safety.
read more putin
The tunnels are supplied with fresh water, are well ventilated, and have the ability to withstand a nuclear blast.
Yet, his fears of being assassinated have now reached a point where he feels the need to have anti-missile air defence systems.
At the beginning of the war his house was considered out of the reach of drones and missiles from Ukraine - but this is no longer the case.
Several explosions caused by incoming kamikaze drone strikes in Sochi over the last month have worried the Russian president.
Most read in The Sun
On 14 October, two Ukrainian kamikaze drones were shot down as they targeted Sochi.
Ukraine struck a gunpowder plant and a missile factory in the same 24 hour period.
Russian air defences had to be deployed leading to major explosions offshore in Krasnodar region.
The local airport was closed and locals reported a series of half a dozen explosions with lights going out in some homes.
Almost two weeks earlier a helipad linked to Putin’s security service at a facility close to Sochi International Airport was destroyed in a drone attack.
Viktor Alksnis, a politician known as the Black Colonel, suggested Ukraine was targeting Putin’s official residence, Bocharov Ruchey.
“It seems that the favourite vacation spot of the President of the Russian Federation, the Bocharov Ruchey residence near Sochi, will become inaccessible for security reasons,” Alksnis said.
“Ukraine is conducting a real hunt for Putin.
“If indeed in this case it was an attack by a Ukrainian drone, then the Bocharov Ruchey residence is already the third attempt to attack the official residences of the president with a UAV.
"The first attack was on May 3 on the Kremlin, the second on September 5 at Zavidovo."
He added: "I wonder if these attacks on Putin’s residences will be regarded as crossing red lines?
Similar air defence installations have been spotted near his forest palace at Valdai, north of Moscow, and close to his Novo-Ogaryovo near the capital city.
The Pantsyr complex is several miles from his Stalin-designed Bocharov Ruchey mansion.
The official residence is believed to have its own fully functioning bunker in case of attack.
Nearby are several newer palatial residences in the same high security territory.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Putin’s lover Alina Kabaeva, 40, is known to frequently live in Sochi where she runs an elite rhythmic gymnastics academy.
Putin also boasts a £1 billion clifftop palace at Gelendzhik, in the same Krasnodar region.
6
6
6
Topics