How Putin became ‘world’s richest man’: Lies, affairs, greed

Vladimir Putin claims to be a symbol of “Otechestvo” — or the Russian Fatherland itself.

Every one of his speeches, photo-ops and press briefings is intended to convey the clear message that the Russian president is a man of the people. He will protect his citizenry from enemies, foreign and domestic, repel Ukrainian “Nazis” from committing genocide against ethnic Russians in Donbass, wrestle a NATO soldier to the judo mat and rescue a Russian child from the claws of a Siberian Tiger.

But underneath this façade of altruism that Putin has been carefully crafting for over 20 years, is a cold-blooded, egotistic dictator, who has led a clandestine life filled with mysterious affairs, czar-worthy palace intrigue, and incalculable wealth handed to him by oligarchs who stole from the Russian common man.

In April 2014, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimea, the Kremlin announced that Putin had finalized his divorce from his wife, a former flight attendant, Lyudmila Shkrebneva, with whom he has two adult daughters, Katerina and Maria. The 30-year marriage likely fell apart because, like many Russian czars, he was having an extramarital affair and didn’t want to be constrained by a traditional family. Putin’s paramour was a dreamy-eyed, high-cheek-boned, gold- medal-winning Russian rhythmic gymnast, Alina Kabayeva, who is 31 years his junior. Although the Kremlin has denied the relationship, there are rumors that Putin and Kabayeva are married and have twin sons together.

Putin has previously hinted that he does have a romantic relationship, but he has demanded it off-limits for the Russian public and broadcasters to discuss it. Russian media, most of which is under direct or implicit control by the Russian government, is prohibited from covering Putin’s personal life — and Putin verbally slams anyone who disobeys this order. When a Russian reporter asked Putin in 2008 about a rumored wedding with Kabayeva, he said, “I always disliked those obsessed with erotic fantasies who stick their flu-ridden noses in other people’s lives.”

Putin is rumored to have another love child, Elizaveta Krivonogikh, from an affair that he allegedly had during his first term as Russian president with a mistress, Svetlana Krivonogikh. A cleaner-turned-millionaire, Krivonogikh is virtually unknown to the Russians, but her daughter Elizaveta, also known as Luiza Rozova, is the spitting image of Putin.

Putin officially draws a salary of between $115,000 and $225,000-a-year as Russia’s head of state. But, in reality, he has amassed incalculable wealth, ranging from $100 to $200 billion, making him one of the world’s richest leaders and possibly wealthier than either Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates or Elon Musk. Bill Brody, an American financier who ran one of the biggest investment firms in Russia in 1996-2005, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2017 that Putin had “accumulated $200 billion of ill-gotten gains.” 

The fortune of the Russian spymaster is stashed away, however, in offshore tax havens, invested in luxury properties inside and outside Russia, and spread out among the accounts of his family members and trusted friends who hold millions and billions of dollars for their boss.

His most massive and lavish property lies on the Black Sea and cost more than $1 billion to build. “Putin’s Palace” includes a spa, a movie theater, a teahouse, a wine cellar, a casino, a hookah lounge, a pole-dancing disco, a helipad, a hockey-rink, a church and even a gold-plated toilet. An enormous swimming pool, gym with the latest exercise equipment, and a judo mat also help keep Putin in top shape.

The residence is protected by Fort Knox-level security, including an unscalable fence and a border checkpoint. It is not accessible by ground, sea or air. The airspace above the palace and approaches by water are highly restricted. In his investigation report of Putin’s wealth, Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny called this property “a state within a state,” “not a residence” but an “entire city” — “more likely a kingdom” within Russia.

Putin’s eight official residencies include his main house near Moscow — a 19th-century mansion built by order of the brother of Emperor Alexander III — and his summer residence, Bocharov Ruchey, in Sochi, which sprawls across 40 hectares of woodland and boasts a majestic view of the Black Sea.

Putin’s more enigmatic assets include a villa in the South of France and a million-dollar apartment in Monaco, which are linked to his ex-wife Lyudmila and an alleged former mistress respectively. The splendid French villa — with its four bedrooms, lavish dining room with a terrace, and a billiard room — is surrounded by a 5,000-square-meter private park plus an outdoor pool and music pavilion, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

The $4.1 million apartment located beneath the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco belongs to Putin’s alleged former mistress, Krivonogigh, who reportedly grew up, like Putin himself, in a communal apartment in St. Petersburg, sharing a kitchen and bathroom with several other families. Today, her neighbors are the world’s elites, royals, and mafia-types frolicking in their “light and airy” apartments, according to one real estate agency, gambling their incalculable fortunes in casinos, sailing around in their luxurious superyachts.

Putin, who wouldn’t want to miss out on a single delicious trapping of the aristocracy, also owns a tri-deck superyacht, a $100 million vessel called “Graceful.” At 270-feet long, the yacht comes with a gym, a spa, a library, a 49-foot indoor pool that can be converted into a dance floor, and a saloon featuring a white Steinway piano. It accommodates up to 12 guests and 14 crew, according to Boat International.

Putin has accumulated his wealth by running a mafia-like enterprise where he grants protection or “krysha” (literally a roof) to the oligarchs who occupy every major Russian enterprise in key industries, such as oil and gas. He keeps the newly minted capitalists in power, and they give him ransom money in exchange.

While Putin preaches family values and moral traditions as Russia’s alternative to the “decadent” West, he is actually a cold-blooded tyrant and the incarnation of decadence itself. Decadence that was built on billions stolen from the Russian people.

Rebekah Koffler is a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer and currently a strategic intelligence analyst with The Lindsey Group. She is the author of  “Putin’s Playbook: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America.”