When officials issue an official denial, you know for sure the opposite is true.

Back in February, when the news leaked out about Putin’s new retirement home in Pionerski, Kaliningrad Oblast, The Moscow Times duly reported:

“We have no information on this matter,” Kremlin press secretary Viktor Khrekov said. “I would not exclude the possibility that this has all been dreamed up by some regional official.”

Yeah right. But everyone in Pionerski - population 10,000 - knows different. They also know exactly where the dreamed up dream home will be built. And it stands to reason that, once Vlad is on a pension, he won’t be able to afford Sochi.

Needless to say, when I got to Pionerski last week, the local bus station was thronging with foreign journalists disguised as babushkas.

By Russian standards, Pionerski passes for picturesque. There are only a few Soviet pre-fab apartments on the outskirts. Most Pionerskis live in old German houses in mint pre-war condition. That would be the first war.

The whole village is just a few minutes walk from the beach. It’s here you see the first signs that Pionerski is being readied for Executive R&R. The town with no real pavements or street lighting has spawned a promenade with lamposts. Russia is all about priorities.

Pionerski is an obvious choice for the Putin residence since the Russian military own all the land for miles around. At one time it was a Luftwaffe airbase and flying school. Then the Russian navy commandeered it immediately after the war. Some parts are still a Red Army barracks.

Below is the part of the old complex is destined to become Villa Vladimir. It should be big enough for his two daughters and Connie Putin, the black labrador.

In recent years, this former Officer’s Mess has provided spare roof tiles for all the other houses in the village. It will be sorely missed.

Finally, here’s the view over the Baltic from Putin’s garden, looking towards Zelenogradsk. I’m standing where Vlad will be in a couple of years time, in his shorts, with a gin and tonic, throwing stones at the peasants below, while Putina reads Cosmopolitan in her sundress. Nice.