Another ring of air defense towers has been erected within a 50 km radius of Putinʼs residence in Valdai, Russia.
This was reported by Radio Liberty, which analyzed satellite images together with an OSINT analyst under the nickname jembobineuse.
The new air defense ring passes through the Khotilovo military base, which Putin regularly uses. One of the towers was erected there in March. A specially built railway line leads from the base to the Valdai residence.
Several more air defense positions have been set up on the shores of the Vyshnevolotsk Reservoir. On Lysyachiy Island in the middle of the reservoir, the Russian military has built a new laboratory complex, which is likely related to the Russian biological weapons program.
The journalists have not yet been able to find positions in the northern part of the ring. They suggest that they could be built in the coming months. In total, there are now more than 50 air defense positions around Valdai — almost half the number built in Moscow and the Moscow region after the start of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Moreover, less than 100 000 people live in Valdai, the Valdaisky district, and within a radius of 50 km from the residence, while the population of Moscow and the Moscow region exceeds 20 million.
What preceded
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Ukraine used drones to strike Putinʼs residence in Valdai on the night of December 29, 2025.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called Lavrovʼs words a lie and emphasized that such statements by the Russian Federation are preparation for an attack on state buildings in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump initially said he was very angry when he learned about the incident from Putin himself. Later, on his social network Truth Social, he shared a link to a New York Post article with the headline: “Putin’s false claims about ʼattack’ show that it is Russia that is standing in the way of peace.”
On January 1, The Wall Street Journal, citing American intelligence data, wrote that US intelligence had found no evidence of a Ukrainian attack on Putinʼs residence.
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