DEEP BELOW
HAVE you ever wondered where a paranoid Russian President might retreat to if he has to leave the Kremlin in a hurry?
If Vladimir Putin ever goes on the missing list, there is a high chance he will be holed up in his top-secret hideaway in southern Russia.
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Leaked documents have now exposed his fortified Black Sea bunker that sits beneath his luxurious £1billion Gelendzhik Palace.
The sprawling mansion, which awards the size of Buckingham Palace, was dubbed "the most guarded place in Russia and Putin's biggest secret" by jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
It boasts a swimming pool, spa, saunas, bar, theatre, cinema, wine cellar, casino, guest house and even its own petrol station.
Putin is also said to have rigged it out with a sleazy "striptease" room for him and his cronies, complete with a stage and pole.
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But it appears there are even more layers to the enormous and extravagant palace lurking 50 metres below the surface.
Blueprints of the gaudily-decorated property suggest Putin has built an underground bolthole fit for a James Bond villain.
Documents previously published online by a now-defunct Russian construction company, Metro Style, have laid the despot's lair bare.
The schematics showed an intricate network of blast-proof tunnels encased in thick concrete and moisture-proofing materials buried below the decadent palace.
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Two separate passages are connected by an elevator which descends roughly 50 metres underground - with escape routes leading out onto the cliff that the plush pad sits on top of.
The tunnels are supplied with enough fresh water, ventilation and extensive cables to support VIP occupants for weeks at a time.
Structural engineer Thaddeus Gabryszewski said they have "all kinds of safety and security" meaning they are "intended for someone to survive or escape."
It would provide the perfect hideaway in the event of a disaster for the paranoid Russian strongman and his goons to seek refuge in.
Michael C. Kimmage, a former US State Department official and Cold War expert, told Insider: "Putin has a lot of anxiety about being the not-entirely-legitimate leader of Russia.
"Ao knowing that his legitimacy is not entirely secured by elections, he is going to seek to maximize his personal safety through a complex of well-defended personal residences."
One tunnel has been dubbed the "tasting room" by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation which first uncovered the blueprints.
A report claimed it is decked out as a proper living quarters, where Putin and his pals could enjoy the views while still remaining safe.
It stated: "It is a huge window that offers the best possible sea view.
"Here you can enjoy a glass of wine... this is not some kind of balcony where you are constantly in danger, but a very safe underground place where nothing threatens you."
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The second tunnel, deemed as the preferred escape option, leads to a hatch right on the coastline, which is spotted in drone footage captured by the organisation.
The video seems to match the make-up of the property suggested in the leaked blueprints.
The tunnels, spanning up to 60 metres in length, have around 6,500 square feet of living space and could double as a command post.
Although it isn't unusual for world leaders to have an emergency bunker, the features of Putin's privately funded and privately owned Black Sea den suggests it has been built to secure his survival.
The palace is surrounded by some 17,000 acres of land owned by Russia's FSB security service and is patrolled around the clock.
The no-fly and no-boat zones mean the specifics of its design have been tucked away from the world.
But there are marina and helicopter pads for Putin's private use to ensure he has an easy route into his refuge, while a railway offers him another clandestine mode of transport.
An engineer-turned-whistleblower who reportedly worked on the construction - named only as Viktor - thought of the palace as a “national treasure” suggesting the underground passageways buried in the rock were more ingenious than Dr No’s bunker.
He also referred to an eighth subterranean floor, presumably tunnel one, as "a balcony - literally a loggia hanging over the sea".
The enormous palace was built in secret near Gelendzhik on the Black Sea coast on the Praskoveevka Estate - said to be 39 times the size of Monaco.
Navalny claimed to have been given exclusive access to secret plans for the mansion with the help of contractors paid to refurbish it.
He said: “This is not a country house, not a cottage, not a residence. It’s a whole city, or rather a kingdom.”
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The Versaille-style pad, said to be the largest private home, has since had its interior gutted as it undergoes refurbishment.
Navalny's aide Maria Pevchikh said this was due to an outbreak of mould which resulted from poor ventilation, the Moscow Times reported.
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