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dpa
Moscow
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team has published extensive research about a secret palace allegedly worth billions of dollars belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
They say that Putin has built a secret “kingdom” that is 39 times the size of Monaco on the Black Sea coast, worth 100 billion roubles (1.33 billion dollars).
The complex - described as the “most expensive palace in the world” - spans some 7,800 hectares, and has a church, an amphitheatre, a teahouse and a helipad.
The two-hour video, called “A Palace for Putin. The story of the biggest bribe,” contains allegations of misuse of public funds and abuse of office.
The film, posted on YouTube on Tuesday, was viewed half a million times within the space of 30 minutes.
It sparked outrage on social media. “Looks like the home of some drug lord in the tropics,” opposition politician Ilya wrote on Twitter, and posted images of the residence. “But no, it’s the Russian president’s secret palace.” The Kremlin rejected the claim: Putin’s spokesman said in the evening that the president had no such palace.
The film was made while Navalny was still in Germany, where he was recovering from an assassination attempt with the nerve agent Novichok in August.
Navalny had originally wanted to present the research himself on returning to Russia, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.
She added that the film made her angry, “Putin steals from my country, imprisons my friends, he is a murderer,” she said.
Navalny was arrested directly on his return Sunday, and is now apparently being held in an infamous detention centre in Moscow.
Text preceding the video states, “Navalny has fought for our rights for many years. Now it’s our turn to fight for him.” At the end of the film, Navalny calls on his supporters to stand up and protest next Saturday, saying, “Our future is in our hands. Don’t be silent!” In Russia, however, calls for demonstrations are always severely penalized. People need permits in order to be able to protest, but none have been issued for months due to the pandemic.
Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in prison on Monday in a controversial summary trial held in a Moscow police station.
He is alleged to have violated probation requirements in a previous criminal case. Navalny and his team criticized the process as a politically motivated attempt to silence him.
The EU imposed sanctions after the poisoning, which Navalny said was carried out by a hit squad made up of members of the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, allegations denied by Putin and the FSB.
Western leaders protested Navalny’s arrest but a Kremlin spokesman called it a domestic matter.
The Kremlin described as “nonsense” Navalny’s accusations that Putin had the opposition leader locked up because he was “afraid” of him.
Transparency International has listed Russia as one of the most corrupt countries worldwide, and attempts to reveal corruption have proved fatal in the past.
Moscow
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team has published extensive research about a secret palace allegedly worth billions of dollars belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
They say that Putin has built a secret “kingdom” that is 39 times the size of Monaco on the Black Sea coast, worth 100 billion roubles (1.33 billion dollars).
The complex - described as the “most expensive palace in the world” - spans some 7,800 hectares, and has a church, an amphitheatre, a teahouse and a helipad.
The two-hour video, called “A Palace for Putin. The story of the biggest bribe,” contains allegations of misuse of public funds and abuse of office.
The film, posted on YouTube on Tuesday, was viewed half a million times within the space of 30 minutes.
It sparked outrage on social media. “Looks like the home of some drug lord in the tropics,” opposition politician Ilya wrote on Twitter, and posted images of the residence. “But no, it’s the Russian president’s secret palace.” The Kremlin rejected the claim: Putin’s spokesman said in the evening that the president had no such palace.
The film was made while Navalny was still in Germany, where he was recovering from an assassination attempt with the nerve agent Novichok in August.
Navalny had originally wanted to present the research himself on returning to Russia, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh wrote on Twitter.
She added that the film made her angry, “Putin steals from my country, imprisons my friends, he is a murderer,” she said.
Navalny was arrested directly on his return Sunday, and is now apparently being held in an infamous detention centre in Moscow.
Text preceding the video states, “Navalny has fought for our rights for many years. Now it’s our turn to fight for him.” At the end of the film, Navalny calls on his supporters to stand up and protest next Saturday, saying, “Our future is in our hands. Don’t be silent!” In Russia, however, calls for demonstrations are always severely penalized. People need permits in order to be able to protest, but none have been issued for months due to the pandemic.
Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in prison on Monday in a controversial summary trial held in a Moscow police station.
He is alleged to have violated probation requirements in a previous criminal case. Navalny and his team criticized the process as a politically motivated attempt to silence him.
The EU imposed sanctions after the poisoning, which Navalny said was carried out by a hit squad made up of members of the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, allegations denied by Putin and the FSB.
Western leaders protested Navalny’s arrest but a Kremlin spokesman called it a domestic matter.
The Kremlin described as “nonsense” Navalny’s accusations that Putin had the opposition leader locked up because he was “afraid” of him.
Transparency International has listed Russia as one of the most corrupt countries worldwide, and attempts to reveal corruption have proved fatal in the past.
