A luxury palace on the Crimean peninsula worth around 115 million euros, which houses a medical center with an operating room and cryosauna, an indoor swimming pool and an intimate cinema, belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin, an investigation by associates of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has shown.
Associates of Navalny, Putin's fiercest opponent who died in 2024 in one of Russia's most brutal prisons, announced this Sunday that the cliff-edge palace on the Black Sea coast was decorated for Putin after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, the Moscow Times reports.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by Navalny, states that the property was purchased in 2007 by the family of former Ukrainian President and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, and that the complex on Cape Aya was placed under the administration of the Russian President's Office for Property Management after the annexation of Crimea.
Navalny's associates claim that the property was later taken over by a network of companies linked to Yuri and Boris Kovalchuk, businessmen believed to be part of Putin's inner circle. The Anti-Corruption Foundation adds that the ownership structure matches patterns previously identified at other properties the organization has linked to Putin, including a residence near Lake Valdai and a sprawling palace near Gelendzhik.
An investigation conducted by Navalny's associates, the results of which are being reported by the American MSN, showed that the spacious complex on the southern tip of the Black Sea peninsula includes a private promenade, a pier and an artificial beach with white sand, as well as a new helipad.
The main house is 9.000 square meters, and a second building on the cliff, with 5.000 square meters, is hidden under landscaped gardens.
The interior is lavish even compared to other Putin palaces. The master bedroom is 240 square meters, and the bathroom is 50 square meters. The boudoir - a salon for dressing and grooming - is about the size of three standard two-bedroom apartments, according to the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The golden jacuzzi is entered via a golden ladder and with the help of a golden handrail, activists say, adding that the bathroom elements cost around 32.500 euros, which is enough to buy a studio apartment in the Russian resort of Sochi.
An entire floor is occupied by a private hospital, which houses general practitioner and otolaryngologist offices, a dental office, and an operating room, equipped with the most modern German and Finnish medical devices.
An operating table costs around 40.000 euros, and there is also a respirator, an anesthesia machine, equipment for monitoring the patient's condition, X-rays, equipment for gastroscopy and colonoscopy, and much more.
The palace also has a secret sauna, for Putin's favorite therapy with very cold air, an intimate cinema for eight people in the basement, and part of the complex is a separate guest house overlooking the Black Sea.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation says the lavish palace on Cape Aya is "another symbol of uncontrolled power and corruption in Russia."
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