Mar 21: OCCRP- Solovyev loves the decadent West
Thread published on March 17, 2023 as well as links to articles
istories_media has just updated its database of foreign assets owned by politically significant Russians.
Among the propagandists now featured here are TV star Vladimir Solovyev, actor and director Nikita Mikhalkov, and pop singer Oleg Gazmanov.
Foreign Assets of Russian Politically Exposed Persons and their Family Members
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, many politically significant Russian citizens — that is, people that occupy positions of power — have been placed on sanctions lists. In theory, this freezes their foreign assets. In reality, however, their properties are often registered in the name of relatives or frontmen. This makes it difficult to identify the true owners, let alone have the properties seized.
IStories decided to participate in tracking down these assets.
Solovyov is one of the most colorful and outrageous figures on Russian television.
On his TV show, which reaches millions, he’s described Western countries as “servants of the prince of darkness” and called for Moscow to use nuclear weapons in its “holy war” against them.
So why does he have 4 properties on Italy’s Lake Como?
These two villas, discovered by imprisoned opposition leader Navalny’s researchers, are in the lakeside towns of Pianello del Lario and Menaggio.
(photos: @fbkinfo)
Solovyov, Navalny’s team found, also owns an apartment in this historic neo-renaissance villa in Griante.
Over to another part of the Mediterranean!
Once best known in the West for his Oscar-winning anti-Stalin film “Burnt by the Sun,” director Nikita Mikhalkov has turned into a fierce defender of the Putin regime.
“Europe is dying,” he said in a 2018 interview with @yurydud.
But that hasn’t stopped his family from acquiring multiple properties in Spain. In addition to this villa near Gibraltar and other properties…
…it turns out one of his daughters owns three apartments in this building in the seaside city of Torrevieja.
Also in Spain: In 2021, Baza reported that pro-Kremlin online influencer Kristina Potupchik had a villa near Barcelona.
@istories_media now reports that she transferred the property to her husband after the Russian invasion.
Beneficial patriotism. Christina Potupchik found a villa in Spain
Kristina Potupchik is one of the most influential media managers in Russia, she specializes in "viral" online propaganda: since her time at Rosmolodezh, Potupchik has been involved inpromotion and formation of the image of the authoritiesin the Internet. Now the former ward of Vladislav Surkov is called "the gray cardinal of the Russian Telegrama ": she is credited with managing the whole"grid» from anonymous Telegram channels secretly linked by a single editorial policy.
More (in Russian for now) from our friends at @istories_media here.
Propagandists Surrounded by Enemies
Russian propagandists daily tell, write and sing about how bad life is in the soulless West, with which spiritual Russia is fighting to the death in Ukraine. On this they earn good money, part of which they spend (or have already spent) on organizing a comfortable life for themselves in the West. In principle, this is not news - thanks to the investigations of Alexei Navalny's team, everyone remembers Vladimir Solovyov's villa on Lake Como or Sergey Brilev's British citizenship. But we also found something new - for example, three more apartments for Nikita Mikhalkov's daughter. This is another update of the Important Stories guide to foreign real estate of Russian politically exposed persons.