Putin Humiliated as His Vacation Home Defenses Go Up in Flames

Alexander Kazakov / Via Reuters Ukraine has dealt Vladimir Putin a chastening blow. The Russian president’s alleged private holiday residence in the southern Russian region of Gelendzhik on the Black Sea coast is thought to have cost north of $1 billion, is mired in controversy, and has become a symbol of the corrupt decades of Putin’s rule. The Residence at Cape Idokopas, an Italianate complex, known widely as “Putin’s Palace,” is surrounded by a square-mile no-fly zone and a broader…