It Became Known Where Putin Was Really Almost Two Months After The War Started
1- 11.11.2025, 17:44
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Grandpa is truly a bunker buster.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin spent most of the first month and a half after the start of Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine at his Valdai residence. This is where footage of meetings allegedly held at the residence in Novo-Ogaryovo was filmed.
This is the conclusion reached by the authors of an investigation by the "Sistema" project (Investigative Project of Real Time and Radio Liberty), which was published on Tuesday, November 11.
The journalists found out that Putin has three similarly decorated offices - in Novo-Ogaryovo, Sochi and Valdai.
After February 24, 2022, for a month and a half, the dictator was hardly ever shown outside his official residences - in the Kremlin and in Novo-Ogaryovo.
"Such a rare appearance of Putin among outsiders has stirred up a new wave of conspiracy theories that he is actually hiding somewhere in a secret bunker," Radio Liberty wrote, noting that the dictator "has been labeled 'bunker grandfather' on social media and in Ukrainian journalism."
According to the study, however, Putin spent most of that time in Valdai, where another of his residences, officially called Dinner or Long Beards, is located.
In September 2022, the Russian dictator announced a mobilization. And afterward, when some Russians fled abroad to escape the draft and others received summonses, Putin often "enjoyed the sea air in Sochi."
"However, the war made adjustments to these habits as well," journalists note.
So, since early February 2023, the Sochi office has disappeared from the Kremlin chronicle. Officially, Putin has traveled to Sochi only a handful of times in the last two years. Presumably, the dictator stopped traveling south for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks. Since the beginning of 2025, Putin has also stopped using his office in Novo-Ogaryovo.
In comments to the authors of the investigation, sociologist and researcher of Kremlin elites Konstantin Gaase said that for Putin "the main location now is Valdai."
Radio Liberty's Russian Service reported on August 12, 2025, that Putin's residence is surrounded by 12 air defense positions, mostly Pantsir SAMs, which are located on towers.
The journalists reported that Putin is often in Valdai with his sons and their mother, Alina Kabaeva. The publication Proyekt earlier wrote that a separate house for Kabaeva was built near the residence and a special railroad line was even laid.
In April 2021, the Anti-Corruption Foundation of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny released an investigative film about Putin's residence in Novgorod Region.
According to the FBC, it was at the Valdai residence that Putin and former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych held a secret meeting during the Maidan.
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