The platform at the highest point of the plot is suitable as a platform for the Pantsir anti-aircraft system, says Marko Eklund, ‘s Russia expert.
Association of Investigative Journalists Published by Dossier Center this week, new material from the Russian president Vladimir Putin About the villas located near the Finnish border.
You can read about the revelations here.
One of the pictures shows Putin’s modern two-story villa on the shore of Laatoka, called “the barn”. Behind the villa is a peculiar square grass-covered hill.
Judging by the picture, the hill looks big, even bigger than the adjacent helipad. It is located at the highest point of the plot right next to the road and the fence.
The exact purpose of the uneven square structure is not known.
Ceiling or floor?
In the Finnish media, for example Ilta-Sanom interviewed by the director of the Air Defense Museum, lieutenant colonel evp. Esa Kelloniemi estimates that it may be a bunker that contains an anti-aircraft system and “a lot of other things”.
Russia expert Marko Eklund on the other hand, states that the structure looks like a bunker, but when you look more closely at the photos taken of it from all directions, you notice that there is no access opening or air conditioning systems typically associated with bunkers in or near it.
The structure is flat and in its four corners you can see the same landing lights as on the adjacent helipad.
– The president often moves in a convoy of two helicopters, so using the platform as a landing pad would make sense, says Eklund.
The turf shows wear. According to the dossier, the wear is a result of the anti-aircraft system’s support pillars.
– As assessed in the Dossier Center story, the platform at the highest point of the plot is also well suited as a platform for the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft system, which could be brought to the site to protect the distinguished guests.
The altitude is useful for the anti-aircraft radar. However, Pantsir does not require a flat platform, but according to Eklund, “it would at least be stylishly displayed”.
In addition, the construction as a protective bunker is too visible. From the photos received by the dossier, you can immediately see that no attempt has been made to disguise the bump.
Pantsir is brought to the place to protect the distinguished guests
Russian investigative journalists believe the square-shaped structure could serve as a platform for a Pantsir-S1-type anti-aircraft system.
The Pantsir system includes cannons and anti-aircraft missiles that can shoot down, for example, low-flying airplanes.
– Why would an anti-aircraft missile system be put in a bunker underground? Eklund asks.
Eklund considers it unlikely that an anti-aircraft missile system, which is also used elsewhere, would be permanently tied to a resort that is used occasionally.
– There are many valuable sites in the St. Petersburg area that need to be protected from Ukrainian drone attacks, Eklund says.
There are Pantsir systems in the immediate area. In 2021, a Russian Izvestiya reported, that a mobile anti-aircraft missile regiment equipped with Pantsir equipment has been established in the St. Petersburg area. The heavy S-400 regiments in the area also have Panzers as self-protection.
In addition, Putin’s “cottage” happens to be at the intersection of three radar centers, expert Eklund states. The radar centers have been in the area since Soviet times, so they are not there because of Putin.
After Russia attacked Ukraine, Pantsir anti-aircraft systems have started to be used to protect important state targets. Such has been photographed, for example, on the roof of the Ministry of Defense in Moscow and near Putin’s residence in Valdai.
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