Russia has built about 16 new elevated air-defense towers in a ring roughly 50 km around Vladimir Putin’s Valdai residence, bringing the total near the site to more than 50, according to a Radio Liberty investigation based on satellite imagery.
They are mostly on the ring’s southern side, facing Ukraine, and are spaced about 15 km apart.
The lattice structures are designed to lift short-range systems such as Pantsir or Tor above the tree line so they can hit low-flying drones and missiles.
The new ring also covers Khotilovo airbase, a backup airfield for Putin connected to the residence by a dedicated rail line, and Lisiy Island on the Vyshny Volochyok Reservoir, home to a classified laboratory.
Radio Liberty’s Mark Krutov and OSINT analyst jembobineuse (at X), who mapped the sites with Planet Labs imagery, say the count roughly doubled in six months.
The Valdai area, with fewer than 100,000 people within 50 km, now has about half as many such towers as Moscow and the surrounding region.
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6October 26, 2026 1.4K 6
