Real photos of ‘Putin’s palace’

Alexey Navalny’s researchers say they’ve corroborated a bombshell report on the Russian president’s alleged seaside residence

Alexey Navalny’s investigative team operating abroad has released a new report devoted to “Vladimir Putin’s palace” — a seaside mansion that’s been under construction for years in Gelendzhik and linked to the Kremlin and the president’s close friends. Exactly a year and a day ago, Team Navalny published an investigative report about the residence that has attracted more than 121 million views. In these new revelations, the jailed opposition leader’s researchers say they’ve obtained real photographs of the palace’s interior. The images apparently corroborate the accuracy of last year’s 3D mockups that were created using leaked blueprints and furniture catalogs (including a design for a hookah lounge that contains a “dance pole”).

Navalny’s researchers have not specified when or how these photographs were taken, but the team clarified that the images were recorded before a news crew from the state television network Rossiya-1 reported from the compound and showed the building still under construction.

After Team Navalny’s January 2021 investigative report was released, the Kremlin and multiple federal agencies denied any role in the Gelendzhik property. Arkady Rotenberg, a businessman and longtime friend of Vladimir Putin, later claimed ownership of the residence, which he said is being remodeled to serve as an “apartment hotel.”