{"id":26940,"date":"2026-08-11T10:34:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T10:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/26940\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T10:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T10:34:58","slug":"ukraine-destroys-air-defences-guarding-putins-holiday-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/26940\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine destroys air defences guarding Putin\u2019s holiday home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian drones struck a missile launch pad used to guard one of Vladimir Putin<\/a>‘s lavish residences from long-range attacks.<\/p>\n

The S-400 “Triumph” anti-aircraft missile launch pad, located around 12 miles from the Russian president’s Italianate palace complex near Gelendzhik, southern Russia, is designed to repel aircraft, drones<\/a> and cruise missiles.<\/p>\n

It was left “ablaze and sputtering for three hours” after being targeted by Ukrainian drones, according to Major Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces.<\/p>\n

The air defence system is used alongside electronic warfare systems and mobile fire groups to defend the palace, which is encircled by a 27-square-mile “buffer zone”<\/a>, according to reports. Security officials maintain a permanent no-fly zone above the complex.<\/p>\n

Major Brovdi said that the launch pad had been repurposed to fire munitions at Ukrainian cities, including six missiles on Aug 8.<\/p>\n

Analysts said Moscow had turned to these systems to intensify its missile attacks on Ukraine because of a critical shortage of the Patriot interceptors that form its sole defence against ballistic barrages.<\/p>\n

“While less accurate and lethal, they still represent a threat to civilian infrastructure, particularly when launched at densely populated areas,” wrote Fabian Hoffmann, a missile expert at the University of Oslo.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

S-400 ‘Triumph’ anti-aircraft missile launchers on display at a military parade in Moscow – Sefa Karacan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The residence near Gelendzhik, known as “Putin’s Palace”, may have set the Russian president back as much as \u00a31bn, according to an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation led by Alexei Navalny<\/a>, the late opposition leader, in 2021. Navalny died in a Siberian prison in 2024.<\/p>\n

Journalists claimed that the luxurious complex housed a casino, vineyard, spa, ice rink, theatre, pole-dancing room, hookah lounge, “aquatic disco”, miniature railway room and more. In 2023, it was reported that a chapel had been added.<\/p>\n

An attack in the same region last week led to Ukrainian drone fragments falling on a beach, killing seven bathers.<\/p>\n

Putin is believed to visit the Black Sea refuge only rarely, fearing Ukrainian long-range drone strikes<\/a> and increasingly favouring his highly fortified luxury dacha on Lake Valdai, 185 miles east of Moscow.<\/p>\n

That residence, which is understood to be home to Alina Kabaeva, his covert long-term partner, and their two sons, is protected by at least 27 towers mounted with Pantsir anti-aircraft systems, costing some \u00a316m per unit.<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s military intelligence said on Monday that Kyiv’s drones had also struck two Russian S-400 Triumf air defence launchers, as well as an antenna it uses to control medium-altitude Orion drones in occupied Crimea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Losses from the strike could amount to the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars, Ukraine’s directorate of intelligence said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An oil refinery in Tatarstan was targeted by Ukrainian long-range drones on Monday – Reuters<\/p>\n

Russia has struggled to defend itself against Ukraine’s large-scale drone attacks, which have become a near-nightly occurrence. Overnight on Monday, more than 450 long-range drones sailed on to Russian soil, hitting an oil refinery in Tatarstan.<\/p>\n

The attack killed at least 13 people, making it one of the deadliest single attacks on Russian soil since the war began. Drone fragments also reportedly fell in Tyumen, Siberia.<\/p>\n

Kyiv hopes to use these attacks to increase pressure on the Kremlin to come to the negotiating table, but on Monday a Russian official dismissed Ukraine’s demands to freeze the front line and implement a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

“No ‘freeze’ is possible without addressing the root causes of this crisis,” said Mikhail Galuzin, the Russian deputy foreign minister.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Try full access to The Telegraph free today. Unlock their award-winning website and essential news app, plus useful tools and expert guides for your money, health and holidays.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukrainian drones struck a missile launch pad used to guard one of Vladimir Putin‘s lavish residences from long-range…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8745,625,8769,9651,9650,2441,1279,26,238,33],"class_list":["post-26940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alexei-navalny","tag-cruise-missiles","tag-gelendzhik","tag-italianate-palace-complex","tag-missile-launchers","tag-robert-brovdi","tag-southern-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-ukrainian-cities","tag-vladimir-putin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ukraine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}