At first glance, the rooms look exactly the same. A solid wood desk, cream-white walls, Russian flags behind President Vladimir Putin's back. Only when the pictures are studied in detail does it become apparent that these are actually three completely different places, reports the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
The news site's investigative unit Sistema has mapped images and videos from Putin's meetings and interviews that the Kremlin has released over the years. The placement of a doorknob, an archive folder and a wall decoration reveal that the president has at least three identical offices in different parts of Russia.
Protected by anti-aircraft defenses
The review found that the Kremlin has deliberately misled the public about Putin’s whereabouts “hundreds” of times. For example, in 2020, Russian state television claimed that Putin was at the Moscow residence Novo-Ogarevo, when, according to RFE/RL, he was actually in a nearly identical office at his residence in Sochi on the Black Sea.
Another identical office is located in Valdai, a forested area halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg where Putin is said to have spent a lot of time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to the mapping, almost all of Putin's alleged meetings in Novo-Ogarevo this year have actually taken place in Valdai, primarily for security reasons.
The grand building in Valdai is located in a secluded and heavily guarded area, surrounded by a small community that has grown up for the president's inner circle. According to RFE/RL, at least twelve air defense systems have been set up around the complex to protect the president and his family.
Prevent attempted murder
The year before last, former Russian officer Gleb Karakulov, who worked closely with Putin for over ten years before fleeing Russia, stated that the president had several identical offices.
There were times when I knew he (Putin) was in Sochi. The TV is on in the background; the news is on, and they show him at a meeting in Novo-Ogarevo. So I ask a colleague in Sochi: “Has he left yet?” “No,” he replies, “he’s still here,” Karakulov told Dossier Center , a investigative news agency founded by Russian regime critic and former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in April 2023.
According to Karakulov, the purpose of the identical offices is to confuse foreign intelligence services, but also to prevent assassination attempts on Putin.
