Navalny lifts the lid on Putin’s secret ‘palace’
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has upped the ante in his battle with President Vladimir Putin by publishing a bombshell investigation about the president’s lavish mansion on the Black Sea coast.
Navalny was arrested when he returned to Russia last weekend, after being poisoned by the deadly nerve agent Novichok last August. He was ordered to be kept behind bars at least until mid-February in a fast-track court hearing on Tuesday.
Despite this, his team yesterday released on YouTube a 90-minute investigation into Putin’s wealth and ‘‘Putin’s Palace’’ on the Black Sea, complete with floor plans and stunning 3D visualisations of what its opulent interiors might look like.
In a video message prerecorded in Germany, Navalny said his team waited for him to return to Russia before releasing the film. ‘‘We did not want the protagonist of this film to think we’re scared of him and that I’ll be telling the story about his bestkept secret from abroad.’’
Navalny’s team said it was able to produce the 3D images from a set of blueprints obtained from a disgruntled contractor. They show palatial interiors of marble and gold as well as a private cinema, a casino, and a smoking room with a dancing pole.
The 17,691-square-metre mansion, worth an estimated NZ$1.91 billion, is surrounded by 7800 hectares of private land, vineyards and oyster farms, and is formally owned by a private company. The area around it appears to be a no-fly zone, and anyone wishing to fish nearby has to seek a permit from the presidential security service.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted yesterday that Putin ‘‘doesn’t own palaces’’.
In a message smuggled from jail, Navalny described his return to Russia as a ‘‘fully rational choice’’.
‘‘I refuse to keep silent and listen to the shameless lies of Putin and his friends who are mired in corruption,’’ he said.
Earlier, a close ally of Navalny published a list of eight people the opposition leader thinks should be sanctioned by Western governments for supporting Putin. It includes some of Russia’s richest men, who enjoy luxurious lifestyles in the West while remaining loyal to Putin, such as Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, banker Andrey Kostin, and billionaire and former Arsenal FC shareholder Alisher Usmanov.
Navalny has been jailed for a month for violating the terms of his suspended sentence. A separate hearing next month will rule whether to convert that suspended sentence to jail time.
The Kremlin yesterday brushed aside calls from the West to release Navalny, calling his case ‘‘an absolutely internal matter’’.
Navalny blames his poisoning on Putin’s government, which has denied it. Some European Union countries are suggesting further sanctions against Moscow.
Navalny’s allies have announced preparations for nationwide protests on Saturday.