Moscow: A Ukrainian drone strike has sparked large-scale forest fires near the southern Russian resort town of Gelendzhik, close to a sprawling seaside palace that has long been linked to President Vladimir Putin. The incident has once again cast global attention on the heavily guarded and controversial compound, popularly known as “Putin’s Palace.”
Authorities in Russia’s Krasnodar region confirmed that the blaze began on Thursday after drone debris fell into wooded areas near the village of Krinitsa, about 10 kilometres east of the Cape Idokopas estate. Emergency services battled fires that spread across at least 17 hectares (42 acres) of land, deploying more than 100 firefighters and equipment to contain the flames. No casualties were reported.
While local officials did not comment on whether the palace was the intended target, reports from independent outlets suggested the blaze burned much closer to the property than state accounts admitted. According to IStories, the fire reached within two miles of the residence, while other sources placed it at around six miles.
The Kremlin has not issued a statement, but military analysts point out that Russian air defence systems have recently been positioned around both official and unofficial presidential residences to guard against Ukraine’s expanding long-range drone campaign.
The so-called “Putin’s Palace” gained global notoriety in 2021 when jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny released a viral video investigation alleging that the 190,000-square-foot complex was secretly built for the Russian leader. The footage depicted gilded interiors, private theatres, and vast leisure spaces, portraying the property as a symbol of unchecked power and corruption.
Although the Kremlin dismissed Navalny’s claims, subsequent testimonies from builders who worked on the estate between 2005 and 2020 confirmed much of the construction timeline and scale. Russian state television later attempted to discredit the reports, airing images of bare concrete interiors under renovation.
The estate at Cape Idokopas has since become a symbol of Putin’s personal mystique, mixing rumours, denials, and investigations. Its proximity to Thursday’s drone-related fire underscores both the military vulnerability of Russia’s southern coast and the symbolic weight the palace carries in the information war between Moscow and Kyiv.
For now, firefighters say the immediate blaze has been brought under control, but the episode highlights the growing risks as Ukraine pushes deeper into Russian territory with its drone strikes. Whether the Gelendzhik palace was a deliberate target or an incidental casualty of the conflict remains an unanswered and politically charged question.