President Vladimir Putin has denied owning luxury property on Russia’s Black Sea after opponent Alexei Navalny accused him of hiding the property due to corrupt funding.
In a nearly two-hour movie shared on YouTube last week, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) showed drone footage of an opulent 68-hectare (168-acre) secret palace that has a huge mansion, two helipads, an arboretum and an underground ice hockey rink. The film claimed that the $ 1.35 billion property was paid for through an intricate network of illicit funds orchestrated by Putin and his allies.
Navalny, who narrated the video, said that Putin allowed his “friends” “to steal whatever they wanted from Russia”.
When a student asked about coastal property during a video call, Putin said he did not watch the film due to “lack of free time”, although he quickly read a selection of clips prepared by his advisers.
“I would like to answer your question directly,” he said. “Nothing in the film that says my property belongs to me or my close relatives, and never has. Never.”
Putin did not mention Navalny by name, which is tantamount to the Kremlin’s refusal to acknowledge him publicly.
The film, called “Putin’s Palace. History of the world’s biggest bribe,” has been viewed more than 87 million times on YouTube. Internet users expressed surprise and scoffed at the property’s extravagant amenities, such as an indoor theater, a casino and a club-style hookah bar for gentlemen with a podium with a mast.
Navalny’s exhibition can also be found on the appropriately named website palace.navalny.com, which details the lengthy investigation.
Navalny, a 44-year-old anti-corruption activist in the Kremlin’s sights, gained international prominence after a near-death experience after falling ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow. He was evacuated to Germany, where he spent months recovering.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons found that he was poisoned with the prohibited nervous agent Novichok. The Kremlin denied trying to poison him.
Navalny returned to Moscow from Berlin on January 17, just days before the film was posted online. He was arrested on arrival.
Navalny’s detention sparked widespread unauthorized protests across Russia. Russian police arrested 3,000 people at a demonstration over the weekend.
Amid outrage over Navalny’s arrest, US President Joe Biden urged Russian authorities to release the dissident and campaigners for his freedom.
Mikhail Svetlov / Getty Images