Vladimir Putin has a secret luxury ski lodge with a herbal sauna, its own missile defence system and even a pickle pantry, according to a report.

YouTube channel NavalnyLive, run by supporters of the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, revealed in a new video on Monday (April 3) the dictator allegedly keeps yet another private residence outside the resort city of Sochi, on the Black Sea.

The channel used geolocation to snap pictures of the lavish resort, which is made up of two large homes plus guesthouses, a helipad and a private ski lift, all sprawling across an eye-watering 49 acres of land.

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Meanwhile, Putin's own residence at the secret home is thought to be a 41,000-square-foot, four-storey property, with two floors built underground.

The new video also showed the luxurious hideaway, concealed in the Caucasian Mountains, boasts its own Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile system positioned in a meadow less than a mile from the complex.

Below ground, Putin is thought to have storage rooms and food preparation areas which include dedicated rooms for processing eggs and vegetables, walk-in fridges for meat and fish, milk storage areas, and even a pantry just for pickles.

The basement level also has a spa, featuring a pool, salt and steam rooms, and Finnish-style and herbal saunas.

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The video also claimed the home boasts a hydro-massage bath, a series of small hot and cold plunge pools, and a cryo-chamber.

Further up, the home has a room for Putin's personal assistant, a dining room, and "his and hers" master suites, one of which includes an office.

It is thought the elaborate holiday home – formally known as the Welcome Residence for Official Guests 'Achipse' after a nearby 8th-century fortress – was built around the time of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

And this isn't the first time rumours have swirled of the Russian oligarch keeping a secret "winter palace" – independent journalists first brought to light the 90,000-square-foot estate in 2021.

But while the home might sound luxurious, it doesn't seem the despot is getting much use of it these days, as it was previously reported he was spending most of his time holed up in an apartment at the Kremlin.

In a TV interview last month, he confessed: "I have an apartment here, where I spend a lot of time lately.

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"I work here and spend a lot of nights often."

Until recently it was believed Putin had been living in his official residence at Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, although it was revealed he also kept a forest palace at Valdai where he was living with Kabaeva and their children.

He also regularly uses another residence, Bocharov Ruchey on the Black Sea, and is understood to own another palace at Gelendzhik.

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