A pole-dancing stage in a hookah lounge inside the palace that Alexei Navalny's team claims belongs to Vladimir Putin. All photos: Anti-Corruption Foundation
Leaked photos reportedly from inside Vladimir Putin’s opulent secret palace have been released by jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team.Navalny’s banned Anti-Corruption Foundation has published hundreds of photos it claims were taken from inside the £1 billion palace, near the Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik.
The exterior of the building complex, with construction work underway.
The photo dump is a follow-up to an explosive video investigation published exactly one year ago by the group, which went into great detail on the palace layout. It also showed computer renderings speculating on what the interior of the building looked like based on the leaked blueprints and furniture catalogues.
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Work underway on a swimming pool inside the palace.
The video – presented by Navalny himself before he was once again jailed – has been viewed more than 121 million times. His team now claims (published on YouTube with English subtitles) it has obtained leaked photos from inside the palace, which appears to be under construction or undergoing renovations, showing a theatre, many bedrooms, an unfinished swimming pool, and an Arabian-style hookah lounge complete with a pole-dancing stage.
When last year’s video investigation was published, Russian state TV dismissed the 2021 investigation as fabricated and supported by foreign governments, while Russian billionaire and Putin ally Arkady Rotenberg claimed the palace was actually a hotel complex he was building.
Navalny has long been a thorn in Putin’s side. He is currently serving a prison sentence for a fraud-related conviction that is widely believed to be politically motivated.
The palace comes with its own theatre.
The Kremlin banned the Anti-Corruption Foundation and his network of regional offices last year, and last week designated two of his aides as terrorists.
The double-headed eagle, which features on Russia's coat of arms, features prominently throughout the building.
The publication of the pictures comes ahead of what Western leaders believe is an imminent invasion of Ukraine by Russia.More than 100,000 Russian troops supported by tanks and heavy artillery have been deployed on the borders of the two countries.
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