There’s been scant media attention about the fact that Putin recently destroyed two billion-dollar palaces before Ukrainian drones could do the deed. An ornate, decades-old palace in Sochi, where summits with world leaders have been held, was bulldozed in March. This month, Putin demolished his massive, $1.3-billion Black Sea residence with its ice rink, casino, theater, church, helipad, and underground bunker. Late opposition leader Alexei Navalny released a documentary about this scandalous compound in 2021, claiming it was financed by a graft scheme, surrounded by 17,000 acres of forest, guarded by the FSB, and protected by a special no-fly zone.
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