In a new investigation by independent Russian journalists, the first aerial photographs of another luxurious mansion of President Vladimir Putin, which occupies an area twice the size of the state of Monaco in the south of France, were presented, Meduza reports.

The investigation was conducted by journalists from the Dossier Center, a non-governmental organization founded by Russian dissident Mykhailo Khodorkovsky, recognized by Moscow as a “foreign agent” in May 2022, just months after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.

Journalists from the Dossier Center explain in the 6.5-minute documentary “Putin’s Secret House in Karelia: Putin Stole a Waterfall” how this mansion, located about 30 kilometers from the border with Finland, on the shore of Maryalakhti Bay of Lake Ladoga.

The mention of the waterfall “stolen” by the Russian president is related to the fact that before the construction of this huge residential complex, it was only available to visitors of the Ladoga National Park. The land on which the waterfall is located has been seized since 2010 by Yuriy Kovalchuk, who was nicknamed Putin’s “personal banker”.

Putin’s residential complex was built in a national park

Investigative journalists also show that after the further expansion of the territory of the complex, a barbed wire fence was erected around it, which isolated an area of ​​4 square kilometers, which is 4 times more than recorded in official documents.

Independent researcher and journalist Chris Owen summarized the documentary, noting several interesting aspects of the footage.

For example, Maryalakhti Bay is located approximately 185 kilometers north of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin’s hometown, where he began his career as an FSB officer. It was here that he established many contacts that would help him in his further political career.

Including the former mercenary head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin was born in St. Petersburg (or Leningrad, as the city was called in Soviet times), and was buried here after the plane crash in which he died last August.

The complex includes 4 buildings called “Barn”, “Fisherman’s Hut”, “Garden House” and “Hutor”, as well as a trout farm in the bay. While the name may suggest an idyllic countryside setting, the buildings are ultra-modern homes adorned with marble floors, semi-precious stones and other luxury finishes like bidets that cost $10,800 each and shower heads that cost $4,600 each.

A brewery was also built on the site of the complex, documents obtained by the Dossier Center show that the construction work cost hundreds of millions of rubles.

What are the features of the “rest house” that the president of Russia would have in the north of the country

The “barn” appears to have been intended for the accommodation of guests, with a 200 square meter dining room on the first floor of the building. Part of this building is a brewery with Austrian equipment worth 345,000 euros and a daily production of 47 liters of beer.

On the second floor of the “Barn” there is a tea room with a view of the lake, and behind the building there is a helipad.

After the start of the war in Ukraine, a mysterious mound was piled up behind the building, which, according to the journalists of the Dossier Center, could have been built to accommodate the short-range air defense system (SHORAD).

Russia has several such defense systems, including the famous Pantsir, which were installed on the roofs of important buildings in Moscow last January.

But at the time when Dossier Center flew around the complex with a drone, such a system had not yet been installed. Electronic warfare equipment to jam drone signals was also absent or ineffective, as evidenced by the fact that investigative journalists were able to capture images of the compound.

The Dossier Center suggests that they can only be used when Putin is here. But footage taken later shows that the SHORAD system was present last winter.

The President of Russia has sophisticated tastes

The trout farm is located between the “Sarai” and the “Fisherman’s Hut”, probably intended to provide guests with fresh fish. Local residents told investigators that the complex’s guards sell some of the fish, probably as an unofficial way to supplement their income.

The “Garden House” appears to have been designed for overnight stays, with several lavishly decorated sitting areas and 6 bedrooms with various decorations including semi-precious stones such as labradorite and lapis lazuli. There is also a heliport behind this building.

The “farm” will instead be used to raise bulls to provide guests with the best quality beef.

The two main buildings also have pontoons for mooring large yachts, and the entire complex is surrounded by barbed wire and surveillance cameras, with guards patrolling its perimeter to make sure no one tries to enter.

Its construction in the Ladoga National Park was carried out in violation of all norms of Russian legislation on the preservation of protected areas.

3 years ago, investigators in the case of the dissident Alexei Navalny presented impressive photos of another property that would de facto belong to Vladimir Putin – a luxurious palace on the shores of the Black Sea, also built through aides and preserved in the documents of the FSB, FSB. Security of Russia.

“This is a state within Russia. And in this state, there is only one inviolable tsar – Putin,” Navalny said then, adding that the Russian president is “obsessed with wealth and luxury.”