The annual Valdai Club meeting, traditionally held in Sochi in the fall, was moved to Moscow Oblast this year because of security concerns amid intensifying Ukrainian drone attacks, the New Voice of Ukraine reports.
The Financial Times reported the move, citing four sources.
The Valdai Club announced its annual meeting on Sept. 14. About 120 invited participants learned in August that the event would be held in Moscow Oblast, although they had initially been invited to Sochi.
Two sources said the Russian dictator’s security service had insisted on changing the venue.
The FT reported that the relocation indicates the Kremlin is increasingly concerned that Putin could be at risk from Ukrainian medium- and long-range drones.
In August 2026, The New York Times reported that Putin’s obsession with his own security had reached new heights in recent years. The secrecy surrounding him is so extensive that journalists have at times assessed how much the plants in his office had wilted to determine when meetings shown by the Kremlin actually took place.
Also in August, Putin expanded his security staff for the fourth time since the start of the full-scale war. The authorized staffing level at the Federal Protective Service’s central office rose from 785 to 812 employees.
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