Putin offers rare glimpse inside his gilded Kremlin apartment — complete with baby grand piano

Vladimir Putin has given a rare tour of his home near the Kremlin, featuring gilded wood panelling, a white baby grand piano, and a home gym.

The corridor of the spacious apartment is lined with clothes racks filled with suits and shirts. “Everything is here,” the Russian president said, opening the gold-edged doors.

“As you can see, it’s not far away,” he says while bringing the camera crew into a sitting room, suggesting the apartment is close to the Kremlin.

It’s an insight into the private life of Putin, who opened his home for a state media documentary to mark 25 years as leader.

Putin said he has spent the last three years mostly living in the city apartment - having launched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

When the state media journalists posits that Ukraine and the West have wanted to provoke Russia over the past three years, Putin said that was correct.

“They wanted us to make mistakes,” Putin said, adding he hoped there would be no need to use nuclear weapons.

A gilded sitting room with heavy layered curtains and pale sofas that Putin said he once hosted former US president Bill Clinton in also features a white baby grand piano, which Putin said he “rarely” has time to play.

In the footage, he invites the film crew into a small kitchen and offers them kefir to drink, and plates some chocolates that Putin said were a gift.

They then sit in a much larger dining room, complete with gold-framed mirrors and high ceilings for an interview.

Asked about any succession plan, Putin said, “I always think about it”.

“In the end, the choice is for the people, for the Russian people, for citizens, who have a chance to do something serious,” he said.

“The chances of truly achieving something are slim for a person who doesn’t have the trust of the people behind them.”

During the tour Putin showed off the “most important part” of the apartment which is his home gym, filled with exercise and weight machines and a mirrored wall. Putin told the journalist he spends 1.5 hours a day exercising.

In an ornate, wood-pannelled room, Putin points to a projector screen that can be pulled down to transform the room into a cinema.

Putin also showed off his home chapel, replete with Byzantine-style paintings, large golden candelabras and more gilding. Putin said he used the chapel to pray.