Ukrainian Drone Threats Force Putin to Move Major Sochi Summit to Moscow

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has moved the annual Valdai Discussion Club conference from Sochi to Moscow this year due to security concerns following increased attacks by Ukrainian drones, according to Financial Times on September 15.

Around 120 participants were originally invited to attend the event in Sochi, but organizers informed them last month of the venue change after Putin’s security service insisted on the relocation.

Putin has not visited Sochi since the previous Valdai meeting in early October 2025. Ukrainian defense forces routinely target facilities in Sochi and other locations along Russia’s Black Sea coast, including a September 9 attack by uncrewed surface vessels on the Sochi waterfront.

The venue change highlights growing Kremlin concerns regarding Putin’s safety amid strikes by medium- and long-range Ukrainian drones.

Neither Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov nor representatives from the Valdai Club responded to requests for comment, Financial Times reports.

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War in Ukraine

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The 2026 meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club is scheduled to take place from September 28 to October 1. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, and presidential adviser Maxim Oreshkin are scheduled to speak alongside Putin at the conference.

On September 12, 2026, a Ukrainian drone maneuvered under fire from an intercepting Russian helicopter before successfully striking the sanctioned Russian oil tanker Armada Leader near Sochi.

The attack was part of the Unmanned Systems Forces' ongoing "MoLoChKa" operation, a campaign designed to disrupt Russian maritime transport and shadow-fleet oil exports passing through the Black and Azov seas toward the Bosphorus.

According to Commander Robert Brovdi, Ukrainian forces hit a total of 285 vessels during the first ten weeks of the operation, including 215 in July, 54 in August, and 16 during the first eleven days of September, severely threatening military supply lines to occupied Crimea and cutting off crucial revenue used to fund Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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