Tolstoy tale of riches and ruin
THE COUNTESS AND THE RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE
BBC2, 9pm
IN a tale that could have come straight from one of her famous cousin Leo’s novels, Countess Alexandra Tolstoy married a billionaire who went on the run to escape Russian hit men.
With no idea what he was caught up in, Alexandra was left in London with their three children to pick up what became of their lives.
This fascinating documentary interviews both Alexandra and her partner Sergei Pugachev, who went from living a wonderful, idyllic life of luxury to becoming an enemy of the Russian state.
Filmed in the UK, France and Russia, it tells how Sergei – once known as President Vladimir Putin’s banker – amassed a £12billion fortune.
He owned one of the country’s largest private banks, shipyards, a coal mine and designer brands.
The saga starts where lots of posh stories often do, in Chelsea. Alexandra gives viewers a tour of their luxury house, including a cupboard just for handbags, and a whole house next door for the children to enjoy.
They had a PA, two drivers, two housekeepers, a private jet, and two nannies.
Then there was the £12million home in trendy Battersea, the 200-acre country estate in Herefordshire and the £33million beachfront villa on a Caribbean island.
Alexandra was living a fairytale – but it all came crashing down.
Sergei had fallen from favour with Putin after a disagreement over a bank loan.
He was on the Kremlin’s hit list – and enemies of the Russian state can find it very hard to hide.
Says one commentator: “If you fall out of Putin’s circle, it doesn’t end well.”