Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains three identical presidential offices across different locations in Russia as part of an elaborate security strategy designed to prevent assassination attempts, a new investigation has revealed.
The Three Identical Offices
According to research by Systema, the Russian leader's primary office at Novo-Ogaryovo - a luxurious estate west of Moscow that serves as his de facto residence - has been precisely replicated in both Sochi, the former Winter Olympics host city, and Valday, located halfway between St Petersburg and Moscow.
This sophisticated arrangement allows the Kremlin to deliberately obscure Putin's true location during official meetings and televised public appearances, creating uncertainty about his exact whereabouts at any given time.
How the Deception Was Uncovered
Investigators analysed approximately 700 videos from Putin's meetings, discovering minute but significant discrepancies that proved the existence of these office clones.
One particularly telling example emerged from a report broadcast on October 11, 2020, where a state television journalist interviewed Putin about testing a new hypersonic missile. While an on-screen tag indicated the location as 'Novo-Ogaryovo', and the footage showed the president approaching his office door and reaching for the handle, the placement of that very door handle betrayed the actual filming location.
The footage was actually recorded nearly 1,000 miles to the south at Bocharov Ruchei, the state residence in Sochi, despite being presented as originating from Novo-Ogaryovo.
Other crucial clues that exposed the deception included travel documents visible in shots, the specific patterns on Putin's ties, the distinctive shape of a television stand, variations in tabletop hues, and even the unique grain of wooden document trays placed on the desk.
Increasing Reliance on Valdai and Insider Testimonies
In recent years, particularly since February 2023 - exactly one year after launching the war in Ukraine - Putin has shown a marked preference for the Valdai location. Systema's investigation suggests that nearly all meetings supposedly filmed at Novo-Ogaryovo this year actually took place at Valdai, according to Kremlin footage and leaked materials.
Russian state television crews filming at these alternative locations are sworn to secrecy, as are officials ordered to participate in partially televised audiences with the Russian leader.
While information about duplicate offices has surfaced previously through source accounts, the Systema investigation provides visual evidence supporting these claims. Gleb Karakulov, an officer in Putin's secretive personal security service who defected in October 2023 alongside his wife and daughter, provided detailed insights about the ruse six months after his departure.
Karakulov recalled instances where he knew Putin was in Sochi while television news simultaneously showed him conducting meetings in Novo-Ogaryovo. When he questioned colleagues in Sochi about whether the president had departed, they confirmed he remained there. The defector noted that his colleagues would often laugh among themselves about the office replicas.
"I think that this is an attempt to confuse, first, [foreign] intelligence and second so that there are no assassination attempts," Karakulov stated. "But that does not stop him from being afraid. Why else would he need such a smoke screen?"
The Kremlin has reportedly implemented additional security precautions, including speculation about Putin employing body doubles - rumours that have circulated extensively since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though no concrete evidence has yet emerged to substantiate these claims.
