Ukraine’s drone campaign is changing where Putin goes – now his flagship forum is being moved out of Sochi
Ukraine has sharply intensified its deep-strike drone campaign since Putin last visited Sochi, and now his security service is moving his flagship forum out of the resort.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has shifted his prestigious foreign policy conference from Sochi to Moscow Oblast due to escalating concerns over Ukraine's advanced long-range drone strikes, according to the Financial Times on September 15. The move appears to be an indirect acknowledgement of the impact of Ukraine's ongoing deep-strike drone campaign, as Kremlin officials may not openly admit to the threat posed by Ukrainian drones.
Putin's security service reportedly insisted on the relocation of the Valdai Discussion Club meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place in Sochi. The decision to move the forum comes after 120 invited guests were informed of the change in August. Putin has not visited Sochi since the conference in early October 2025, a significant decrease from 2021 when he visited the resort 24 times.
Ukraine has significantly intensified its long-range drone campaign against Russia since the Valdai conference there in early October 2025, targeting Russian defenses behind the rear. The latest attack on September 13-14 hit a critical 92N6 multifunction radar of a Russian S-400 air defense system in Sochi, damaging energy and logistics infrastructure thousands of kilometers away.
Despite the relocation, the Valdai forum will still occur from September 28 to October 1 in Moscow Oblast.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
