Vladimir Putin’s holiday villa has been destroyed over growing fears over Ukrainian drone strikes, it is believed.

Satellite images reportedly show the Russian president’s Black Sea summer home near the city of Sochi is now a gaping “pit” surrounded by construction equipment. In May last year, the same arial view showed a mansion-sized ‘dacha’ (a country house in Russia, typically use a second home) along with several outbuildings set acres of guarded forest. Now, the vast area is covered in a sand-coloured Earth with no mansion to be seen.

“He has stopped flying to Sochi out of fear for his own life. The president fears drone attacks,” said Proekt, an publication set up by exiled Russians who published the photos. “The site of the dacha is now a pit.”

Putin reportedly stayed at the villa during the pandemic ( 
Image:
Proekt)
Before reportedly being bulldozed, Bocharov Ruchey served as one of the Kremlin leader’s official residences since 1991. According to Proekt, the paranoid dictator isolated himself here during the Covid pandemic, and even had a copy of his office residence in Moscow built in the home to give the illusion he was actually in the capital.

“A lot of questions remain,” Proekt added. “First of all, why did a luxurious residence need to be demolished given it had been renovated 10 years ago The answer is, probably, obvious – because of [Ukrainian] drone attacks, the president is afraid of being on the Black Sea coast of Krasnodar region.

Proekt claim Putin knocked the villa down due to fears of a drone attack ( 
Image:
Google Earth/e2w)

“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.” Kremlin has not commented on the demolition and The Mirror have not been able to confirm whether the dacha is no longer. The Sun reports one theory actually suggests the demolition is so Putin can build an even more impressive home in the area.

The shocking pictures comes after the largest oil terminal in occupied Crimea exploded yesterday following a Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike which will likely have put a dampener on Putin’s 72nd birthday. Images show the huge Feodosia covered in flames and black toxic smoke, with an onlooker stating: “Such explosions… They hit the oil depot finally.”

The Russian occupying authorities did not admit to the drone strike but acknowledged a ‘manmade emergency’. Ukrainian armed forces general staff said they had successfully hit the marine oil terminal in Feodosia, which is the largest on the peninusula for transshipment of petroleum products used for military purposes.