A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a forest fire on the night of Wednesday, Aug. 27, just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Russian president’s Black Sea mansion known as “Putin’s palace,” Russian officials said.
Emergency crews battled a huge blaze spread across three separate locations near the village of Krinitsa, Russia’s Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Disaster Relief wrote on Telegram. Krinitsa is just east of the Russian president’s seaside mega-villa.
Authorities in Krasnodar said on Telegram that the fires, which required 100 emergency personnel, were caused by debris from a drone downed by air defense systems.
No injuries or deaths were reported, though emergency services wrote on Telegram that 23 holidayers trapped by smoke had been brought to safety by boat.
‘Putin’s Palace’ and its controversy
‘Putin’s Palace’ is the Kremlin chief’s Italianate palace complex located on the Black Sea coast near Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai.
It was the focus of an investigation by late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his Anti-Corruption Foundation, which accused Putin of using fraudulently obtained funds to construct the estate.
Navalny claimed that it had cost over 100 billion rubles ($1.35 billion) to build, and the allegations – as well as Navalny’s arrest just days before the investigation had been released – sparked anti-corruption protests across Russia.
In response, the Russian authorities denied that the property, which at the time of construction boasted an “aquatic disco,” hookah lounge, casino, pole-dancing room, and a room for miniature railroads, belonged to Putin.
In 2024, Russian opposition website “Proekt” claimed that the palace had been refurbished to reflect the Russian president’s newfound fixation with religion, writing: “The renovated version does not feature a casino, a striptease hall, or an arcade room. Instead, it has a chapel housing an icon of Saint Vladimir, Putin’s patron saint.”
Putin is said to have become increasingly paranoid in recent years about attempts on his life by Ukraine’s special services.
In October 2024, Proekt published a video claiming that Putin had demolished his palatial holiday villa in Sochi, fearing it could be vulnerable to Ukrainian drone attacks.
Putin had previously hosted venerated guests, including US President George Bush and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, at the villa, where he was also said to have spent at least 40 days a year.
It was also previously reported by Russian independent outlet Verstka that Putin had begun to fear for his life in 2023, after drones targeted the wealthy Rublyovka neighborhood west of Moscow, home to the lavish villas of Russian political and business elites.
The neighborhood also houses Putin’s Novo-Ogaryovo suburban state residence, which had been a favorite of the Russian president since the start of his second tenure and was unofficially dubbed his de facto residence.
Also in 2023, a Russian former elite intelligence officer told Russia’s investigative Dossier Center that Putin is “pathologically afraid” for his life, taking measures such as building identical offices in several residences across Russia for television appearances in order to obscure his real location.