On the eve of a key foreign-policy event — the meeting of the international "Valdai" Discussion Club — the venue was changed at the last minute. According to the outlet, the forum featuring Vladimir Putin, which was supposed to take place in Sochi, was urgently relocated to the Moscow region. Sources claim the decision was made at the insistence of the FSB against the backdrop of increasing attacks by Ukrainian drones on the territory of Krasnodar Krai. The Kremlin has not issued an official comment on the reasons for the change of location.
Last-Minute Relocation
Four sources familiar with the circumstances confirmed that the change of venue was linked to "security concerns in the context of increasing attacks by Ukrainian drones." According to them, it was the FSB that insisted the "key foreign-policy meeting" not be held in Sochi. Notably, the Kremlin has not publicly explained the reason for the move: no official statements on the causes of the change of location for the event involving Putin have been issued, which in itself heightens attention to the logistics and the level of threat that Russian authorities consider sufficient to cancel the format in the southern resort city.
Context: Sochi Under Attack
The relocation comes against a backdrop of a sustained pattern of strikes on Sochi, which intensified this summer and continue in September. According to available data, Ukrainian forces are attacking the port waters with unmanned boats, while aerial drones are striking objects along the embankment. On the night of September 10, the city came under a massive attack by drones and unmanned boats, resulting in a fire on the embankment. That same evening, a performance by Russian singer Tatyana Bulanova, who has openly supported Russia's war against Ukraine since 2022, was taking place there; due to the drone attack, her concert was cut short. It is separately noted that Putin has not visited Sochi since last year, when the previous "Valdai" meeting was held there, whereas before the full-scale war he had been there far more often — for example, in 2021 he visited the city 24 times.
Contradictory Data
The versions from different sources contain discrepancies that are important to note. First, the exact new location is described differently: some materials point to a relocation to the Moscow region (the Moscow suburbs), while others reduce this to a move "to Moscow." Second, a number of publications frame the situation through the lens of an already-occurred "attack on Valdai" and a subsequent "military response" by the Kremlin, whereas the basic version amounts to a preventive relocation due to risk, rather than a strike directly on the forum venue. Finally, none of the versions is backed by official confirmation from the Kremlin, so the details (the specific settlement in the Moscow region, the role of the FSB, the presence or absence of a strike on the venue) remain at the level of source reporting.
Reaction and Consequences
The last-minute change of venue has become an indicator of how the threat of drone attacks affects the holding of even high-profile foreign-policy events in Russia. For Sochi, this is yet another episode recording that the resort city, traditionally used for meetings of this level, has effectively dropped out of the usual logistics due to the military burden. The absence of an official Kremlin comment and the discrepancies in describing the new location leave room for further verification: as statements from the authorities and clarifications from the organizers of "Valdai" emerge, the picture may be supplemented.
