President Vladimir V. Putin has long operated within the confines of a tight security bubble, which became even tighter and more isolated during the coronavirus pandemic. The sprawling red fortress of the Kremlin, which Russian officials claimed was the target of a Ukrainian drone attack on Wednesday, contains both the president’s official residence and his main office, making it the heart of that bubble.

The agency responsible for protecting the president, the Federal Guard Service — known by its Russian initials, F.S.O. — rarely confirms Putin’s whereabouts or discusses his movements. It sometimes closes areas adjacent to the Kremlin, particularly Red Square, to the public.

Over the past few years, drones have been banned from flying over the Kremlin and the surrounding area. Security officers deploy special devices to down any in the vicinity. When the Russians claimed to take out two Ukrainian drones above the Kremlin — around 2:30am (local time) on Wednesday, according to videos reviewed by The New York Times — Putin was at a sprawling compound about 32km to the west, his spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters. The compound is in the elite suburb of Novo-Ogaryovo, along the Moscow River.

Putin travels frequently between the compound and the Kremlin in a lengthy motorcade. The rich residents of nearby compounds grumble quietly that the FSO closes the road to other traffic while the President is in transit.

Russian news media reports have suggested that, since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Putin has spent more time at the compound or at another rural spread northeast of Moscow, near Lake Valdai. While the vast grounds of the Kremlin contain the official presidential residence, it is more ceremonial than practical. Only recently did Putin publicly mention the existence of a private apartment that he claimed to use frequently — an unusual instance of him discussing his living arrangements.

“I have an apartment here, where I have been spending a lot of time lately, working, spending nights very often,” he told reporters when President Xi Jinping of China visited Moscow at the end of March. Both his main office and his apartment are in the Senate Palace, a yellow domed structure that was visible in video footage showing what appears to be a drone exploding. The palace also contains Catherine Hall, a soaring blue and white circular reception room where Putin holds ceremonies, such as handing out state awards, and the dome itself covers the presidential library.