


Russian President Vladimir Putin has a sprawling secret ski lodge outside the resort city of Sochi boasting a pickle pantry, a herbal sauna, a cryo-chamber and its own missile defense system, according to a report.
NavalnyLive, a YouTube channel run by supporters of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, posted a new video Monday shedding light on what is purported to be Putin’s luxury vacation complex on the Black Sea.
According to the report, a property located not far from the village of Krasnaya Polyana, which is officially owned by the Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom, is actually Putin’s top-secret ski retreat nested high in the Caucasian Mountains.
NavalnyLive reported that the presidential hideaway is protected by a Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile system, which was photographed positioned in a meadow overlooking the snow-capped peaks less than a mile away.
Navalny’s organization used geolocation to catch a glimpse of the impressive compound, which is comprised of two sprawling homes, guesthouses for personnel, a helipad and a private ski lift sitting on more than 49 acres of land.
According to the video, Putin’s extravagant chalet was built around the time of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Formally, it is known as the “Welcome Residence for Official Guests ‘Achipse,'” named after a nearby 8th century fortress.
Navalny’s supporters have obtained what they claimed to be the blueprints for Putin’s property, revealing that it is a 41,000-square-foot, four-story building, with two of the floors located underground.
The subbasement level is occupied by a series of storage rooms and various food preparation stations, including egg and vegetable processing rooms, separate walk-in refrigerators for meat and fish, areas for preparing hot and cold food, milk storage and a pantry for pickles.
The basement level is home to a “huge” spa, complete with a pool, salt and steam rooms, and Finnish-style and herbal saunas.
But that’s not all: there is also a hydro-massage bath, a series of small hot and cold plunge pools, and a cryo-chamber, which is said to be Putin’s must-have.
The first above-ground floor houses a room for Putin’s personal assistant, a spacious dining room, and “his” and “hers” master bedrooms.
The larger of the two suites, possibly Putin’s, comes with an office.
A separate building on the property is designated as a kitchen reserved for the Federal Protection Service, which has the unenviable task of ensuring Putin’s safety at all times.
Putin has reportedly grown increasingly concerned with his safety, leading him to construct enormous nuclear bunkers and ditch his presidential plane in favor of an armored train.
The report stated that after the Winter Olympics, a second, even larger home was constructed for the president just 400 feet away from the first.
News of the new house, dubbed “Putin’s winter palace,” was first reported by independent journalists in 2021.
The 90,000-square-foot estate reportedly boasts a custom-made “Nicholas II” grand piano made in Germany carrying a price tag of around $76,000.
The contents of the well-appointed residence also include a $1,800 goose dawn blanket, $6,700 Swarovski crystal-encrusted sconces ordered from the US, and a similarly priced mantle clock.
Putin, 70, was last seen hitting the slopes in Sochi with his staunch ally, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in Feb. 2021, a year before the outbreak of the Ukraine war.