According to the investigation, the estate includes a palace that extends over 17,691 square meters and includes a private casino, a large cinema hall, a strip club and baths. The investigation includes simulations of the various facilities made based on information leaked from professionals who worked in the prestigious complex. The website published by Navalny’s organization allows viewers to take a selfie inside the palace.
But the splendor did not end within the walls of the palace. The investigation claims that the prestigious complex, which is 39 times larger than the Principality of Monaco, includes a tunnel hewn in the mountain and reaches a private beach, a suspension bridge on a cliff leading to a tea house, a large church, a hunting lodge in the forest, a helicopter pad and a huge bunker. It was further alleged that in the area, purchased by the Russian security service, luxurious villas were built for the president’s associates. “This is a country within a country, where Putin rules as a tsar,” the website said.
“This is the largest bribery deal in history,” the website explains, claiming that the funds used to build the huge palace came from the president’s associates, who made their fortunes from the Russian state’s resources. Navalny’s organization claims that the construction of the palace cost $ 1.35 billion and that some of it came, indirectly, from the Russian treasury.
The investigation further claimed that the huge palace stands meanwhile desolate due to many mistakes made during its construction, including a critical error in the palace’s ventilation system. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded briefly to a published investigation, arguing that the information presented in it was incorrect.
While Navalny, who was arrested on Sunday on his return to Russia after recovering from an assassination attempt on his life, is sitting in a holding cell awaiting trial, he can take comfort in the fact that 16 million Russians have already watched the online investigation and the video accompanying the investigation has garnered 19 million views.