People have long been curious about life inside Vladimir Putin’s private residence at the Kremlin, a place only accessible to a select few in his inner circle.
Recently, the veil of secrecy surrounding the dictator’s living quarters was lifted as he provided a rare look inside his luxurious apartment, a view previously unavailable to the public.
In a historic moment captured in a video, the Russian president engaged in conversation with a journalist near his office, leading to a revelation about the interior of his residence.
Putin opens his gold-plated door and says, ‘Yes, this is the apartment. As you can see it’s not far away,’ before he invites the reporter, Zarubin, in.
The pair enter a grand hall adorned with gilded walls, large gold-framed mirrors, gold chandeliers, and exotic-looking plants.
A large portrait of Russian Emperor Alexander III is prominently positioned on a table, and several light-colored sofas sit in the room’s centre.
There is also a white grand piano by the window, which Putin claims he rarely manages to play.
In further videos – which are extracts from a longer interview due to come out in Russia on May 4 – Putin also showed Zarubin a dark-wood-lined library, two bedrooms, and a small ‘home church.’
Back in March 2023, in an interview for the propaganda program ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin,’ the dictator said that the informal part of negotiations with the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping took place in this apartment.
‘We had a working lunch, and then I invited the chairman, as a friend, to move to another room.
‘I have an apartment here [in the Kremlin], where I have been spending a lot of time lately, I work here and spend the night very often, so we moved there and, sitting by the fireplace and drinking tea, talked about everything slowly,’ Putin said at the time.
The dictator’s life of luxury stands in sharp contrast to the suffering endured by his soldiers on the brutal frontlines of Ukraine.
In March British intelligence claimed Russia has suffered the largest troop losses since World War Two during its invasion.
The Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update that up to 250,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Vladimir Putin began his war in February 2022.
The MoD added that despite the fact that Russia has, in total, 900,000 casualties since invading, ‘Putin and the Russian military leadership [is] highly likely to prioritise their military objectives over the lives of Russian soldiers.’
The Kremlin apartment video comes after last year leaked footage revealed Putin has revamped his £1 billion clifftop palace, getting rid of his pole-dancing boudoir and installing a church with a ‘throne’ for his personal use.
The dictator, 71, was stung when investigative journalists working with Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation (FBK) discovered the gaudy Gelendzhik castle overlooking the Black Sea three years ago.
Amid a scandal over misuse of state funds, the Kremlin claimed it belonged instead to his childhood friend Arkady Rotenburg, 72, who told reporters he was creating a sumptuous ‘apart-hotel’.
But Putin-watchers saw this as a smokescreen and a new leak appeared to show the changing tastes of the dictator amid an opulent makeover of the sprawling palace, which includes a 16-storey underground complex built into the cliff-face that has drawn comparisons with a James Bond villain’s lair.
The latest embarrassing disclosures about the palace came as Putin was inaugurated as Russian president for the fifth time following his ‘victory’ in a March 2024 election widely seen as rigged.
The Russian president’s notorious striptease stage and pole-dancing hookah hall, casino, gaming room and ‘aqua disco’ – for which he was mocked and shamed in the 2021 disclosure – were out.
Commentators speculated the accoutrements were not in keeping with his recent push for Russians to embrace traditional values.
Out, too, was the garish gold ornaments and decorations noted in the previous exposé of the palace.
Instead, the property has been furnished with a traditional church complete with its own wooden throne for Putin, along with sacred religious icons and images.
One depicts canonised Prince Vladimir the Great – the same name as Putin, and his historical hero – who more than one thousand years ago was credited with uniting Ukraine and Russia.
‘This is probably the only room where the name of the real owner of this palace is directly indicated,’ said the investigation by outlets FBK – formerly associated with ‘murdered’ opposition leader Alexei Navalny – and independent Russian outlet Proekt.
Putin’s personal church takes centre stage with a gilded altar, marble floor mural, and a wash of dark green patterns on the walls to provide a sensible, sober feel.
It is a world away from previously leaked computer generated images revealing plans for a hookah room in the palace, complete with strip pole and sofas.
Epic paintings of historical war scenes have appeared – showing a heroic Russia, for example at the 1812 Battle of Borodino when Napoleon suffered grievous losses.
One includes part of a prominent Kremlin painting called ‘Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword!’
