I finished watching Navalny’s investigation into Putin’s palace yesterday. (Title: Palace for Putin. English subtitles available).
A brilliant and utterly devastating exposé, which is unanswerable. Right now, it has 79 million views, though it was 77 million a couple of hours ago.
This documentary has not only laid bare the extent of Putin’s ruthless thieving, but has enraged Russians, who poured onto the streets of dozens of cities yesterday in unprecedented numbers, demanding Navalny’s release and an end to Putin’s presidency.
The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, can always be relied upon to give a disingenuous response to these accusations.
Peskov claims the documentary is “a bunch of nonsense”, but provided no examples of which parts were nonsensical, let alone the truth. Again, quoting Peskov: “These are all absolutely unfounded claims. This is pure nonsense.”
Yet anyone who has watched this documentary knows that Navalny provides extensive evidence to back his allegations of bribery, including company registration documents, aerial footage, and even an interview with one of Putin’s former allies, who helped begin the palace project in the first place!
Not only that, but former Putin ally Sergei Kolesnikov spilled the beans about Putin’s palace almost 11 years ago in an open letter and a series of original documents!
Navalny interviews Kolesnikov and shows all the documents either signed or released by the latter confirming everything he says. Is Kolesnikov also lying, Mr. Peskov?
Then Peskov claimed that the palace, “has nothing to do with either the president or the Kremlin so we haven’t the slightest desire to be interested.”
But in the documentary, a member of Navalny’s FBK contacted the FSB for permission to fish along the Black Sea coast. In the audio recording, a woman said that they would have to sail out into the open sea for a mile, before reaching the destination.
Also from Peskov: “The Russian president declares his entire property and publishes it in [tax] declarations every year.”
The documentary-- among others-- shows that Putin hides his stolen assets through various proxies, including members of his own family and long-time friends.
Again, Navalny provides extensive evidence to back this up, including embarrassing revelations about Putin’s finances from the Panama Papers-- leaked years before this documentary. So Peskov is telling a clever lie: of course, we could see that Putin declares his property in his tax declarations.
However, the issue isn’t what Putin declares on his tax declarations. It is what Putin isn’t declaring, because those assets are hidden in other people’s tax declarations.
Peskov also claimed that accusing Putin of owning a palace-- itself an accusation dating back several years-- “was a badly broken record“. He confidently asserts that the Kremlin has debunked those claims, but never explains why anyone fishing in the Black Sea has to get prior permission from the FSB, as an audio recording irrefutably demonstrates. Nor does he explain why a no-fly zone has been established over the palace.
In a demonstration of Shakespearean irony, Peskov also had words for thsoe donating to Navalny’s FBK (Anti-Corruption Foundation): “We warn all citizens, especially given such a large number of views [on YouTube]: think before you wire money to these crooks. To me, that’s exactly the main purpose of these pseudo-studies. That’s the main scam.”
Bear in mind that Peskov has not provided a scrap of evidence contradicting what Navalny alleges in his investigation. Peskov has ignored evidence from former members of the Russian government leaked over 10 years ago, supporting the claims released in 2021. Peskov does not mention the waves of embezzlement and money laundering that have hit government-backed projects-- so much so that even Putin had to admit there was a problem, according to this Navalny investigation.
I will also point out that Peskov’s son, Nicholas Choles, is a school drop-out with a criminal record, no current job, and outstanding child support payments. Yet according to this Navalny investigation, he lives a life of absolute luxury, thanks to his father being spokesman for the Kremlin.
And Peskov has the audacity to accuse Navalny’s citizen-funded organisation against corruption of being funded by “crooks” and being a “scam”? Well, he has to. His job depends on deflecting suspicion away from Russia’s government for falling incomes and living standards, and onto anyone else. Putin’s Russia punishes those who tell the truth and stand up for justice, while rewarding those who cheat, lie, and steal.
This is why Putin must be arrested, charged, and prosecuted. Sooner is better.
