Yandex blurs satellite images of Putin’s Valdai residence
Putin's residence at Valdai (Photo: navalny.com)
Yandex Maps has blurred satellite images of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence near the village of Dolgiye Borody and the settlement of Roshchino in Russia’s Novgorod Oblast, Agentstvo.Novosti reported on June 30.
According to the report, an area of about 3.3 square kilometers has been hidden on the satellite map. At the same time, the nearby village of Dolgiye Borody and the settlement of Roshchino remain visible in the imagery.
Other Putin residences — Bocharov Ruchey in Sochi, Novo-Ogaryovo, the Kremlin and the presidential palace in Gelendzhik — were still visible on Yandex Maps satellite images at the time of publication.
According to information released in 2021 by Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, the Valdai residence includes a four-story house, a Chinese pavilion, bathhouses, gazebos, a restaurant, a separate beer restaurant and St. Vladimir’s Church. The foundation also said a separate wooden palace, a spa complex, a children’s recreation area and a large park were built there for Alina Kabaeva, her children, and staff.
On June 8, Agentstvo.Novosti reported that anti-drone nets had appeared over truck parking areas in Valdai district of Novgorod Oblast. The location with the nets was about 9 kilometers from Putin’s residence.
According to the outlet, the anti-drone nets appeared there after Ukraine’s Operation Cobweb on June 1, 2025, when Ukrainian drones struck several airfields inside Russia.
In late December 2025, Russia accused Ukraine of allegedly attacking Putin’s Valdai residence with nearly 100 drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately denied the Kremlin’s claims. Analysts from the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War later said there was no evidence that such an attack had taken place.
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