If necessary, Putin wants to hide deep underground in this ‘secret’ palace bunker Adidas now wants to sell Kanye West shoes again

Time and again there is speculation about the whereabouts of Vladimir Putin. A common assumption: the Kremlin boss should use lookalikes that appear in his place while hiding in a bunker. In the Russian population, Putin is even called “bunkeropa”. The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected assumptions about doppelgängers.

The online magazine “Business Insider” has now published construction plans for a huge bunker complex on the Black Sea, which is said to be part of Putin’s palace.

these plans (see resources) show two sophisticated tunnel systems that must run under the palace directly on the coast. The tunnels, encased in thick concrete, are apparently connected by an elevator that goes up to 50 meters below ground level.

What do we know about the tunnels?

According to Business Insider, the two tunnels are equipped with enough fresh water, ventilation systems and extensive cabling to provide inmates with care for days or even weeks.

The authors of the article see the advanced and extensive bunker system as proof that Putin has been preparing for threats for years and has devised scenarios how he could protect himself against counter-attacks or flee.

The two tunnels are approximately 40 and 60 meters long and 6 meters wide. This equates to a living room of about 6,500 square feet. This is about the size of two tennis courts.

“The tunnel system has all sorts of security features,” said Thaddeus Gabryszewski, a civil engineer familiar with defense structures who reviewed the plans for Business Insider. “There is a fire system. There is water, there is sewage. This is for someone to survive or escape.”

An aerial photo shows two exits from the bare rock bunker on which the Black Sea estate stands. There is a beach just below. According to Business Insider, the tunnels could also connect to a road through which supplies could be brought into the palace complex via a hidden elevator.

According to “Business Insider,” there are also signs of explosive safety on the architectural plans. However, the plans do not indicate whether the bunker system can withstand a nuclear explosion or a bunker bomb.

An illustration of the elevator shaft connecting the two tunnels shows six ventilation shafts that can bring in fresh or filtered air.

According to the magazine, the multiple ventilation shafts and two separate tunnels may have been designed with concern for chemical attack. These ventilation shafts therefore make it difficult to cut off the supply of clean air to the palace.

Two separate portals on the ramp “create a secondary and tertiary backup for ventilation,” civil engineer Gabryszewski tells Business Insider. “In the event of an attack, Putin has two sources of air supply, one high and one low.”

According to Gabryszewski, several features of the bunker system’s architecture indicate that Putin wanted to secure the structure just in case. Striking are the 16 cable ducts embedded in the wall of the tunnel. These are for cables that can carry electricity, lighting, copper wire and fiber optic cables needed for a command post.

According to Gabryszewski, the large number of lines running through the lower tunnel goes even further than would be necessary for the operation of the bunker system alone. “It could be a kind of backup system for the palace complex,” says the expert. The tunnel can therefore not only serve as an escape route, but seems to be a kind of emergency backbone for the entire palace complex.

According to Business Insider, the existence of the fortified tunnels, some 1,000 kilometers from Moscow, shows that Putin doesn’t just want to enjoy his penchant for the beautiful life by the sea. It’s also about staying alive.

Michael C. Kimmage, a former U.S. State Department official and now a university professor, says it’s likely that Putin ordered the tunnel built with a possible survival struggle in mind, according to the magazine.

When did construction of the bunker begin?

Kimmage told the magazine that Putin’s careful preparations more than a decade ago show how long the ruler’s thinking has focused on an existential conflict with the West. “It’s deadly for real. Putin knows he’s on top of a volcano. He doesn’t seem psychopathic enough to start a nuclear conflict — he has grandchildren — but he’s been on that precipice for a long time.”

“During the two major upheavals in Russian history – 1917 and 1991 – the status of the capital and the position of the head of government was a major problem,” says Kimmage.

How do we know these plans?

Contrary to all safety concerns and precautions, however, is a not-so-small detail: the company responsible for construction, Metro Style, published the plans of the property on its website in 2010 to showcase its work.

The documents were available online until 2016. While the company never stated that the tunnel system was built for Putin, the publication did mention a complex of underground structures for an estate in the city of Gelendzhik, Krasnodar Territory. The Black Sea estate attributed to Putin is very close to this place.

In 2021, Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny released footage of the giant Black Sea coast estate, attributing it to Putin. The building with the palace of Italian design would be almost 40 times the size of Monaco.

The cost would be about 100 billion rubles (1.3 billion euros) and it will have saunas, wine cellars and an arsenal of Kalashnikovs. In response to mass protests sparked by the publication of Navalny, Vladimir Putin denied ownership of the Black Sea Palace at the time.

According to Business Insider, a link to the blueprints circulated for years among a Moscow subculture known as “diggers.” One of those anonymous excavators, who said he belonged to a group called Sekt Ze, brought the documents to the attention of the magazine.

A spokesperson for the group told Business Insider they are sharing their findings “because we’re tired of Putin’s stupid face and want to expose his paranoid underground traffic.”

When Business Insider asked him about the plans, neither the Moscow-based company that acquired Metro Style nor Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded.

Sources

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(t-online/dsc)