‘Putin’s palace’ video by nemesis Navalny goes viral
MOSCOW: A featurelength video about an opulent palace jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny alleges is owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone viral online, garnering more than 25 million views on YouTube in 24 hours.
The Kremlin yesterday denied Putin owned the palace, called the video an attack on the president and said what it described as a ‘‘pseudoinvestigation’’ was designed to con Russians into giving money to Navalny’s organisation.
The video, which adds new details to allegations which have existed for more than a decade, showed the palace contained a casino and an underground ice rink, and set out a paper trail which it said showed the Russian leader was the owner despite efforts to disguise that.
Navalny, Putin’s most prominent critic, was on Monday detained after flying back to Russia for the first time since being poisoned by a military grade nerve agent. He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, something the Kremlin denies. — Reuters