Vladimir Putin’s summer resort on the Black Sea has been engulfed in flames after it was targeted by a “kamikaze drone strike”.
Footage shared on social media shows flames near the Adler International Airport in Sochi, 30 miles from the President’s residence Borchavov Ruchey.
Black smoke then wafted over Sochi, the city that hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Officials said that the fire had not impacted air traffic at the airport.
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It is understood to be the first time the city has been targeted by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone.
“One version of what happened is a drone strike. Local residents heard the sound of an explosion around 5 am,” a source said.
A diesel fuel tank was on fire nearby the airport.
The governor of the Krasnodar region said that there had been no casualties.
“The reasons for the incident are being investigated,” Kondratyev said on the Telegram messaging app.
Viktor Alksnis, a military tactician and politician instantly suggested that Ukraine was responsible for the attack.
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“It seems that the favourite vacation spot of the president, the Bocharov Ruchey residence near Sochi, will become inaccessible for security reasons,’ he posted.
“Ukraine is conducting a real hunt for Putin. If indeed in this case it was an attack by a Ukrainian drone, then the Bocharov Ruchey residence is already the third attempt to attack his official residences with a UAV.
“The first attack was on May 3 on the Kremlin, the second on September 5 at Zavidovo [Putin’s hunting palace in Tver region].”
The Russian President will often run the country from his holiday home in Sochi.
His rumoured lover Alina Kabeva also resides in Sochi, where she runs an elite gymnastics academy in the resort.
The blaze has been reported to have been extinguished
Dozens of firefighters were called to extinguish the blaze, and it has since been put out.
The Krasnodar governor said: “‘More than 60 [firefighters] and 15 pieces of equipment were deployed to the site.
“There is no threat of fire spreading. The reasons for the incident are being clarified.”
Ukraine’s counter-offensive has ramped up over summer. Two weeks ago, Kyiv drones hit the city of Rostov-on-Don.
Kyiv has recently focused on expanding the bridgehead around Robotyne, a village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukraine successfully seized the village from the Russians last month, and now their efforts have been focused on trying to expand their reach on the area.