Kathrine Frich
For years, television cameras have shown Vladimir Putin sitting behind the same wooden desk, delivering orders or welcoming guests in a stately office said to be just outside Moscow.
But a new investigation claims those familiar images may not always show what the Kremlin says they do.
Reporters from Systema, the investigative unit of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), have found that Putin appears to work from at least three nearly identical offices built in different parts of Russia.
Duplicated sets
By comparing hundreds of official videos, Systema’s journalists noticed subtle but consistent differences: a door handle slightly higher than in other clips, a seam between wall panels shifted by a few centimeters, or a change in the wood grain of a document tray on Putin’s desk.
These tiny clues suggest that the president alternates between replicas of his Novo-Ogaryovo office, located near Moscow, and two copies, one in Sochi and another in Valdai, roughly halfway to St. Petersburg.
According to RFE/RL, most of the footage that the Kremlin has described as filmed near Moscow in recent years was actually recorded in either Sochi or Valdai.
Tracing Putin’s movements
The team matched the video evidence with leaked travel records and internal e-mails from Russian state television journalists and security personnel.
One case involved an August 2020 interview that state media said was filmed at Novo-Ogaryovo.
Systema found that the door handle and wall seam matched those of the Sochi residence, not the Moscow one.
A flight ticket obtained from a Kremlin-linked travel agency confirmed that the interviewer flew from Sochi to Moscow on the day the segment aired.
Footage from several other meetings in 2021 and 2024 shows the same telltale differences in furniture, wall seams, and lighting, suggesting that the president’s appearances were staged in multiple locations built to look identical.
The Valdai retreat
Systema’s report also concludes that Putin has spent much of his time at Valdai, a secluded compound surrounded by forest and lakes, particularly since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Satellite images reviewed by RFE/RL show air defense systems positioned near the Valdai residence.
Analysts believe that, amid increasing Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Russian targets, the president has chosen Valdai for security reasons.
Sociologist Konstantin Gaaze told RFE/RL that “it’s a matter of safety.” Valdai offers privacy and protection that would be impossible in Sochi or the heavily populated outskirts of Moscow.
Silence from the Kremlin
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Systema’s findings, though he previously dismissed earlier reports about identical offices as “inaccurate.”
The new investigation, however, includes evidence from more than 700 official videos, travel data, and leaked correspondence.
RFE/RL says the material indicates that the Kremlin has misled the public about the president’s whereabouts “hundreds of times” over the past several years.
Whether for security or secrecy, Putin’s real location appears to be one of Russia’s most carefully guarded state secrets, hidden behind identical walls and matching wood grain.
Sources: RFE/RL, Systema, OCCRP
This article is made and published by Kathrine Frich, who may have used AI in the preparation
