Vladimir Putin has sharply reinforced security around his residence in Valdai, in Russia’s Novgorod region. Radio Liberty, working with an open-source analyst on X under the account @jembobineuse, said October satellite imagery showed more than 15 new short-range air-defense towers within about 50 miles of the house. An additional 16 towers around the perimeter bring the total to more than 50.
Radio Liberty said the new towers likely house Pantsir or Tor anti-aircraft systems and form an outer ring south of the residence, on the side facing Ukraine. One tower sits on the grounds of the Khotilovo military base, which has a specially built railway with a direct line to the residence. Other positions along the ring border the shore of the Vyshnevolotsk Reservoir, and two are near Lisy Island, described as the site of a laboratory complex supposedly linked to Russia’s biological weapons program.
In January the Russian military claimed Ukraine had tried to attack the Valdai compound with drones. Kyiv denied the claim, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency judged Moscow’s accusation false.
Radio Liberty also reported that Alina Kabaeva, described as Putin’s rumored partner and the mother of two of his sons, spends much of her time at the residence. The more than 50 towers around Valdai amount to about half the number installed in Moscow and the Moscow region. About 20 million people live in the Moscow region, compared with about 100,000 in Valdai.
The same account said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not proceeding as he expected. Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces had their worst day for casualties since the conflict began in 2022, with at least 2,250 military personnel killed or seriously injured on the front between 21 and 22 October. In a Thursday post on X, the General Staff said Ukrainians are doing everything possible to preserve the life of every service member and civilian, while in Russia a soldier is treated as a resource that is not spared and is sent to be destroyed.