Late Tuesday, which was the opposition leader’s first day in the infamous Matrosskaya Tishina facility, his team dropped a colossal inquiry into the president’s wealth and offered Russians to see what they believe is ‘Putin’s palace’ to the Blacks. See is.
Navalny and its Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) call the report their “biggest investigation yet.” It contains allegations of large-scale corruption schemes related to what they believe are Putin’s property worth about $ 1.4 billion.
CNN is unable to independently verify the FBK’s claims. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that the Russian leader was linked to the estate on Tuesday.
“They are repeating the old story. It was the year of 2017 or 2016, if I am not mistaken, that the first time it was mentioned would be Putin’s so – called Palace in Gelendzhik. That is not true. There is “No palace, he’s not a palace owner,” Peskov told CNN.
“These are all rumors and there have been some disputes between the owners of the site, but they really have nothing to do with President Putin.”
The existence of the property was first reported a decade ago when a businessman Sergey Kolesnikov published an open letter with various documents urging the then President Dmitry Medvedev to stop the corruption that is building the alleged palace funded.
The report and an almost two-hour-long documentary also provide a more comprehensive look into the palace. According to FBK, a subcontractor involved in the construction handed over detailed plans of the building along with detailed lists of purchased furniture and samples of floor patterns. The group then uses these documents and photographs obtained from construction workers to create 3D models of the interiors.
“It’s like a state within a state where one indelible tsar rules,” Navalny said in the documentary. “It is built so that no one can reach it by land, sea or air. Thousands of people working there are forbidden to bring even a simple cell phone with a camera … but we will look inside.”
According to the plans, the 17,691-square-foot castle contains 11 bedrooms, several lounges and dining rooms, a private theater, a movie theater, a Las Vegas-style casino, two spas and a hammam, a bakery and a ” dirty room “with an unknown purpose. The rooms, decorated with velvet and lush carpets, have marble floors, columns and intricate ceiling decorations that resemble the royal palaces of St. Petersburg.
A separate section of the report is devoted to descriptions of incredibly expensive furniture made to order by a luxury Italian brand, including a $ 56,000 table and a $ 27,000 sofa.
The plan is described on the FBK site as ‘the most controversial room in Putin’s palace’ and also includes a water pipe lounge with a dancer pole.
As the Navalny website says sarcastically: ‘On the plan, it is designated as’ hookah room’. And all will be well, but there is not one window in the room, but for some reason there is a stage, a dressing room, spotlights and something similar to a pole drawn on the plan. We thought for a long time. what it could be. Maybe they make giant shawarmas there … Or it’s a training ground for firefighters. ‘
Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation says the cost of the castle has skyrocketed due to ongoing refurbishment work, according to interviews with people who worked at the site. The FBK’s investigation initially had critical problems with the ventilation system and the humidity levels, which led to the destruction of very rich interiors due to mold.
FBK says the property around the palace itself is estimated to be 68 acres, but adds that the actual estate is probably about 100 times larger, with a large adjoining piece of land allegedly belonging to the Federal Security Service, or the FSB, as a buffer . to the estate.
According to the drone videos shot by FBK, the estate has a private hockey rink, a personal church, an amphitheater and a 2,500-square-foot greenhouse. The area is heavily guarded with several checkpoints leading up to it; the piece of land is listed as one airport per FBK.
According to members of the vineyard association in the region who heard the music during a tour of the estate, the FBK said the area boasts expansive vineyards where classical music is played around the clock. Bathrooms at a processing facility in the vineyard are reportedly equipped with a $ 850 Italian toilet brush and a $ 1,250 toilet paper holder.
Navalny claims that winemaking is Putin’s’ very expensive hobby ‘and the Russian president serves this wine to his friends:’ He drinks it with his friend from China, Xi Jinping, and discusses’ deeper integration ‘with the same chardonnay [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko, “according to the photos on the menu, he was served during official receptions.
Navalny also claims that he discovered a complicated scheme to finance the property and other personal expenses of the president. The report claims that at the beginning of his presidency, Putin entered into an agreement with Russian oligarchs and wealthy businessmen to ‘donate’ part of their income to an investment firm. But 35% of the donations then go to a special foreign Swiss bank account of a Belize-registered company, Navalny claims. Reuters reported earlier in 2014 on the financial web surrounding the Black Sea property.
Navalny, who was faced with the choice of fading out into the darkness as an emigrant or returning to Russia and on arrival would almost certainly go to jail, chose the latter option.
He was detained at a Moscow airport late Sunday after arriving from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from the Novichok poisoning he blamed on the Russian government. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement.
The next morning, Navalny faced an unexpected trial where the judge ordered him to be detained for 30 days. He is now awaiting trial to determine whether he violated the terms of his suspended sentence in a 2014 blackout case that he said was politically motivated.
Following the verdict on his detention, Navalny’s team announced a nationwide protest over the weekend, and the report is seen as a way to lure more Russians to the streets.
“Mostly I want the same kind of anger that burns in me to burn in the people who watch this video,” tweeted Kira Yarmysh, a spokeswoman for Navalny. “Putin is robbing my country, putting my friends in jail, he’s a killer. And I want to fight back. Moscow, Pushkin Square … I’ll be there. I hope to see you there too.”
In less than a day, the documentary has surfaced 25 million times on YouTube and wants to pass the report on the wealth of Medvedev and Navalny’s investigation into his own poisoning.
The documentary, which shows Medvedev’s mansion, among others, has been viewed more than 37 million times and has led to several mass protests across Russia. At the time, the Kremlin had illegally called for protests, and Medvedev dismissed the report as “nonsense.” The protests ended in mass detention; in Moscow alone about 1,000 people were arrested.
CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report.