Ukraine is destroying the air defences shielding Vladimir Putin's £1billion ($1.35bn) palace with long-range attacks, leaving the lavish residence 'unprotected'. On August 7, a Volna Kupol Garant electronic warfare system was destroyed near the luxurious property based in Gelendzhik, a popular resort town on the Black Sea. Two days later, a nearby S-400 anti-aircraft missile system was struck. The Volna Kupol Garant system is used to jam Starlink satellite communications, including Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet which is utilised by Ukrainian forces. The destruction of the electronic warfare system opened the way for Ukrainian drones to reach the S-400, designed to repel aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. The S-400 had been repurposed to launch six missiles at Ukraine on the night of August 9. 'Satellite imagery shows the destruction of at least one launcher... Now Putin's "palace" is left unprotected,' said military analyst Yan Matveyev. 

The S-400 anti-aircraft missile system - located around 12 miles from the Russian president’s Italianate palace complex - was left 'ablaze and sputtering for three hours', according to Major Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces. Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces are 'systematically destroying' the elaborate protection for the residence, reported The Moscow Times. The palace has been likened to the lair of a James Bond villain with a 16-storey underground complex and bunker, built inside the cliff to withstand nuclear attack. Putin's 17,700-square-metre complex gained widespread notoriety following an investigation by Alexei Navalny, the late opposition activist and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation. In a video posted in January 2021, which gained over a hundred million views in a month, the Kremlin critic alleged that the closely guarded complex was built for the Russian dictator. 

Navalny claimed the property cost £1billion ($1.35bn) and was paid for 'with the largest bribe in history', funded by a circle of businessmen close to Putin. The nearly two-hour video showed a lavish compound decked out with ostentatious features, including an ornate tea house, an amphitheater, a helipad, a church, and several restaurants. The vast property also features a casino, an ice rink and a vineyard. The palace is encircled by a 27-square-mile 'buffer zone', according to reports. Security officials maintain a strict no-fly zone above the complex. It is encircled by a total of 27 towers mounted with Pantsir anti-aircraft systems, according to an investigation by Radio Svoboda citing satellite imagery. 

Fearing Ukraine's long-range drone strikes, the Russian president is believed to visit the Black Sea refuge only rarely. He favours staying in his highly fortified luxury property on Lake Valdai, 185 miles east of Moscow. 'The Ukrainian military has launched a deliberate hunt for Russian air defences in occupied Crimea and southern Russia,' said Yan Matveev, a Russian military analyst and opposition commentator associated with slain opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. 'For example, an S-400 system near Gelendzhik was hit after they had been unable to reach it for a long time.'

It comes as Russia was on fire today, as Ukrainian drones hit key industrial targets and mystery infernos deepened Putin’s agony. The Russian leader arrived in unofficial Siberian capital Novosibirsk as Ukraine staged its latest strikes, and investigators probed whether sabotage was behind unexplained fires. Putin's anxiety over the war was shown by a decision to block the only pro-peace party, Yabloko, from standing in next month’s parliamentary elections amid fears its support would skyrocket. In Voronezh region, a vast Russian Amazon online marketplace complex, Wildberries, was destroyed by a raging fire after a drone attack. The warehouse facility - measuring 1.68 million square feet and used to back Putin’s war - is 295 miles south of Moscow. 

Separately, Ukrainian drones reached almost 1,000 miles into southern Russia to ignite a key Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in Orsk, one of the country’s largest, close to the Kazakhstan border. In the same city, the long-range drones reportedly targeted a strategic mechanical plant. The facility was the sole Russian producer of artillery cartridge cases of 57mm calibre and above, and manufacturer of components for Grad, Uragan, Smerch and Buratino multiple-launch rocket systems. The site is one of Russia’s most importance defence plants. In another blow, a mystery blaze ignited a Rosneft oil refinery in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk region, more than 4,000 miles east of Ukraine. 

The cause was not clear but it came as Ukraine is crippling Putin’s oil economy, a key funder of his war machine. And a key power plant ignited in the Siberian industrial city Angarsk, in another unexplained fire. A blaze in Novosibirsk caused momentary panic after Putin’s arrival, but it turned out to be non-suspicious, according to law enforcement. On Monday, Ukraine caused more damage, igniting two major petrochemical plants in Nizhnekamsk, 800 miles from Ukraine, and Tobolsk, a distance of 1,400 miles. Meanwhile, Russia killed six people and left 19 injured in a ballistic missile and air bomb attack on Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia region. Four apartment buildings, industrial facilities, and infrastructure were hit in the attack. Another attack on civilians came in Dnipropetrovsk region, where three were killed and five wounded.