Reform expands Putin's Black Sea residence
The official residence of Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Bocharov Ruchey, is undergoing large-scale reconstruction, revealed by satellite images, legal disputes and job announcements. The complex is gaining new buildings and a security zone of more than 3 km².
Judicial disputes, satellite images and job advertisements promising workers accommodation by the pool, free meals and cash payment helped reveal the huge expansion of the official residence of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, on the shores of the Black Sea. The investigation by BBC News Russia shows that the Bocharov Ruchey complex in Sochi is being reconstructed practically from scratch, on a much larger scale and with a stricter security scheme.
Historic residence undergoes reconstruction
The official residence of Bocharov Ruchey has been used by Soviet leaders such as Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev and by the first president of Russia since the end of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin. Putin stayed there for the first time before his inauguration in May 2000, and has since frequently hosted foreign leaders there.
Demolitions began in 2024, without official announcement. In September 2025, a large excavation was already occupying part of the land. In the fall of 2026, satellite images analyzed by BBC News Russia already showed the roofs of several new buildings, occupying an area much larger than the old residence.
Increased security with a 3 km2 area
This year, the Federal Protection Service of Russia (FSO), responsible for the security of state authorities, decided to further strengthen the protection of Bocharov Ruchey and create a security zone of more than 3 km2 around the residence. The move coincides with a reduction in Putin’s travel to the Black Sea region, which has become the most frequent target of Ukrainian drones.
Putin was in Sochi 24 times in 2021, a year before the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, but made only two visits to the city in 2024 and 2025, according to the British newspaper Financial Times. However, the government has not abandoned the official residence, which continues to be used to host high-level officials such as Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who was there in 2024.
Contracts and disputes reveal details of the work
In a court decision on a dispute between companies involved in the construction, BBC News Russia found the reference to a state procurement contract for the defense area, identified by code 232720290357200000000000. The first four digits indicate the year in which the contract was signed and the year in which it ends: 2023 and 2027. The following three numbers, 202, correspond to the FSO code responsible for hiring.
By consulting other court decisions involving disputes with subcontractors working in Bocharov Ruchey, BBC News Russia was able to identify TSI Group, registered in the annexed Crimea, as the main contractor of the work. One such dispute involved the Sevastopol-based Voenmorproekt-30 project institute, which began delaying the timetable a few months after the start of works in early 2025. Irregularities were also found in the construction of the walls of the so-called "main house", a service delivered to a company from Orenburg.
Job ads expose conditions and benefits
BBC News Russia has also found on social media and employment sites ads to hire construction workers, including masons, steel structure assemblers and concrete professionals. Some quoted Bocharov Ruchey directly.
One of the announcements, published in January 2025, urgently sought workers for the construction of a two-story building in Sochi, "in a restricted area, with entry upon authorization", and offered payment in cash. Another announcement, published later this year, mentioned a four-story building in an area with access control and verification of documents. Later, the requirements were relaxed and candidates from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were also accepted.
Among the benefits offered were accommodation — for example, “in a swimming pool accommodation” — or apartments, three meals a day, free tools and work clothes. There was a preference for full teams, "with their own engineer and manager", but self-employed workers hired by shifts were also accepted. In 2026, the vacancies were already for internal finishing services, such as installation of luminaires, plumbing and doors.
It has a history with the Russian government.
TSI and the Transstroiinvest group, to which it is linked, have already participated in other works for the Russian government and for security bodies. Part of the original complex has been preserved, including the Bocharov Ruchey-2 building, built for the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, which remains intact and in use for official receptions.
The expansion of Putin’s official residence in the Black Sea continues at an accelerated pace, with the conclusion of the main contract expected in 2027. The BBC News Russia investigation exposes how public documents and job announcements reveal details of a work surrounded by secrecy but of great relevance to the Russian government’s infrastructure.
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