Ukrainian forces are dismantling Russian air defense systems in the Gelendzhik area, exposing the airspace around Putin’s massive Black Sea “palace,” The Moscow Times reported on August 11.
Ukraine has carried out several successful strikes on electronic warfare systems and S-400 air defense systems protecting Putin’s palace near Gelendzhik.
On August 7, the Volna Kupol Garant electronic warfare system was hit near the site, and on August 9, an S-400 surface-to-air missile system located nearby was struck.
The Volna Kupol Garant system is used to jam Starlink satellite communications, protecting an area of up to 20 km.
The system is roughly as large as a “small military base” and can be easily identified from the air.
According to military analyst Yan Matveyev, the system is effective against drones.
The destruction of the electronic warfare system allowed Ukrainian drones to strike the S-400 located just 500 meters away.
Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, Commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, said that on 8 August, between 09:25 and 12:51, the S-400 system positioned near Gelendzhik carried out six missile launches.
“The S-400 position in Gelendzhik, on the shore, right next to the catacombs, burned and sizzled for three hours,” Magyar wrote about the damage.
The fire at the S-400 lasted for three hours, and satellite imagery shows the destruction of at least one launcher, with analyst Matveyev saying “Now Putin’s ‘palace’ is left without protection.”
SBS Commander Robert Brovdi confirmed the operation, noting that “the air defense downfall” will continue.
In addition, he reported the destruction of four other elements of enemy air defense on Russian territory on the night of August 9, and that 3 vessels of the Russian shadow fleet were used in the Black Sea (1 tanker and 2 dry cargo ships).
Ukrainian drones destroyed four more Russian air-defense assets the same night, all on Russian soil: a Tor system in Rostov Oblast and a Pantsir-S1 point-defense system at Yeysk in Krasnodar Krai, plus two radar stations in Rostov Oblast, the Podlyot-K1 and the Kasta 2E2.
Rising security risks have led Putin to rarely visit the Black Sea location, preferring his heavily fortified dacha on Lake Valdai, east of Moscow, which is ringed by at least 27 Pantsir anti-aircraft towers.
The residence is located at 44°25′08″N 38°12′18″E on Cape Idokopas, near the village of Praskoveyevka, a promontory on the Black Sea coast of Russia near Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Krai.
The airspace around the palace is regulated as Prohibited Special Use Airspace P116 (a no-fly zone), which the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) stated was to protect an FSB border-post in the area from increased foreign intelligence activity.
In the viral moment that put the compound on the map,
Navalny’s team released on YouTube a 90-minute investigation into Putin’s wealth and “Putin’s Palace” on the Black Sea, complete with floor plans and stunning 3D visualisations of what its opulent interiors might look like.
The 3D images show palatial interiors of marble and gold as well as a private cinema, a casino, and a smoking room with a dancing pole.
The 17,691-square-metre mansion, worth an estimated NZ$1.91 billion, is surrounded by 7800 hectares of private land, vineyards and oyster farms, and is formally owned by a private company.
In response to the allegations that the vast properties were built for Putin on the Black Sea coast, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, claimed not to know about Navalny’s investigation but told Russian media: “We explained many years ago that Putin does not have any palace in Gelendzhik.”
An independent investigation reports that the residence in the Gelendzhik Black Sea resort has been extensively renovated to remove much of the previous gaudiness with icons and pictures of war.
Ukraine has escalated strikes against Russian air defense infrastructure near the palace as part of a broader campaign targeting these systems across Russian territory.
On Aug. 6 and 7, the USF struck a total of 102 Russian targets deep behind enemy lines.
With Ukraine low on interceptor missiles for its own air defenses, Moscow is increasingly repurposing the S-400 technology for offensive operations.
The Gelendzhik operation forms part of a broader Ukrainian aerial offensive against Russian air defenses and infrastructure across multiple fronts, and in occupied Crimea, Ukrainian military intelligence reported destroying two additional S-400 launchers alongside an antenna system used to command medium-altitude Orion drones, causing losses estimated in tens of millions of dollars.