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NO ONE IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION HAS LIVED MORE LAVISHLY
Inside Putin's Secret $1 Billion Mansion
Protests in Russia threatens the country's stability. Day 11.
NO ONE IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION HAS LIVED MORE LAVISHLY
Inside Putin's Secret $1 Billion Mansion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alusg5KG714
Protests in Russia threatens the country's stability. Day 11.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPZsas53QeU
Putin's Palace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2P154dMR_c
Navalny reveals investigation into ‘Putin's Palace’ | DW News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8J2dW-QYQY
Putin's palace. History of world's largest bribe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipAnwilMncI
Inside Putin's Secret $1 Billion Mansion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alusg5KG714&list=WL&index=8
Spilling into streets and city squares, Russian citizens protest the war in Ukraine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuphogM4K_Q
Jesse Watters: These are the actions of a terrorist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEfSfAkau60
Expert: Oligarchs Targeted In Part Because They Could Hide Putin’s Assets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCp53-rHMg4
Russian oligarchs face financial squeeze as sanctions ramp up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ2rsPcF68k
An exiled oligarch who spent almost a decade in a Russian prison predicts the Ukraine war will end Putin's regime
Seize Russian oligarch mansions to house Ukrainian refugees: Michael Gove demands 'ultimate payback for Putin's cronies' as No10 pledges £350 a month for Brits who take in people fleeing Russia's war
- The Levelling Up Secretary wants to seize luxury mansions from Russian oligarchs to house Ukrainians
- No.10 has confirmed that families who take in Ukrainian refugees will be paid £350-a-month to do so
- More than 2.3million people have now fled Ukraine since Vladimir Putin's forces invaded on February 24
Russian oligarchs’ multi-million pound mansions would be seized and used to house Ukrainian refugees under an extraordinary plan being championed by Michael Gove.
The Levelling Up Secretary has argued passionately in Cabinet that the move would be ‘payback’ for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cronies in Britain.
His plan is being blocked by senior figures in the Treasury and the Foreign Office who believe it is ‘not legally workable’, but one supporter of the Gove scheme last night angrily described opponents within Government as ‘oligarch apologists’.
The row came as No 10 announced that ordinary families who house Ukrainian refugees will be paid £350 a month under a new ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.
It’s hoped that tens of thousands of people will be accommodated under the scheme, helping to tackle Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. More than 2.3 million people have fled the war in Ukraine and another 1.9 million are displaced within the country, a United Nations official has said.
The plans come after the Home Office was heavily criticised for its ‘chaotic’ response to the humanitarian disaster.
In contrast, the British people have acted quickly and generously to help. The record-breaking Mail Force Ukraine Appeal has reached a remarkable £6.6 million alone.
In another grim day in Ukraine yesterday:
- Kyiv became a fortress ahead of an expected onslaught, with Russian forces now within 15 miles of the capital’s centre;
- Russian shelling of besieged cities including Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Sumy continued as one governor said the South-Eastern city of Volnovakha has been destroyed;
- Putin rebuffed a new appeal for a ceasefire but, in a glimmer of hope, negotiators discussed ‘concrete’ proposals for a peace deal for first time as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was willing to negotiate, but would not surrender nor accept ultimatums;
- Zelensky revealed 1,300 Ukrainian troops have died in the war so far, but claimed the Russian army has suffered its largest losses in decades, with an estimated 6,000 deaths;
- Moscow threatened the West that any military shipments to Ukraine will be seen as ‘legitimate targets’, prompting fears the conflict could dramatically escalate;
- Putin was urged to lift the siege of the southern city of Mariupol where up to 1,500 civilians have died;
- Residents took to the streets of the occupied city of Melitopol to protest against the abduction of its mayor by Russian forces;
- Intelligence sources claimed Putin may be suffering from dementia, Parkinson’s disease or ‘roid rage’ resulting from steroid treatment for cancer.
More than 2.3 million people have fled the war in Ukraine and another 1.9 million are displaced within the country
Mr Gove, who first raised the prospect of seizing oligarchs’ homes in Cabinet a fortnight ago, ran into opposition last week at the first meeting of a sub-committee looking into the UK’s refugee response. At the meeting, Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly and Treasury Minister John Glen expressed their departments’ reservations about the idea.
Last night, a backer of Mr Gove’s plan said: ‘The opposition is being led by oligarch apologists who hide behind the rule of law.’ But one of Mr Gove’s opponents said the plan is ‘not legally workable’ and condemned it as ‘gesture politics more suited to a banana republic’.
Under the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, sponsors who provide accommodation rent-free for a minimum of six months will receive a ‘thank you’ of £350 per month, however many refugees they take. Sponsored refugees will be granted three years leave to remain in the UK and be allowed to work and access public services.
Mr Gove said: ‘The crisis in Ukraine has sent shockwaves across the world. The UK stands behind Ukraine in their darkest hour and the British public understand the need to get as many people to safety as quickly as we can. I urge people across the country to join the national effort and offer support to our Ukrainian friends.’
A website will launch tomorrow to allow sponsors to register offers of accommodation. Those applying will be vetted and Ukrainians will undergo security checks. However, as The Mail on Sunday reports today, security chiefs have expressed concern at watering down visa requirements.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has been criticised over the slow rate of approval of visas for Ukrainian refugees, prompting Boris Johnson to demand an end to ‘hostile leaks’ from within her department.
But many organisations are already stepping up, such as London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is set to receive ten children with cancer after they were whisked out of Ukraine in an extraordinary rescue mission.
Meanwhile, Chelsea Football Club was thrown a lifeline by the Government yesterday as officials agreed it could be sold by its sanctioned owner Roman Abramovich.
And amid calls for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to cut fuel duty as the price of oil spirals because of the sanctions, Mr Johnson is set to travel to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to negotiate increased supplies.
Tomorrow the PM will host leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a Northern European security coalition, at Chequers.
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Cabinet split over Michael Gove's plan to seize Russian oligarch mansions to house Ukrainian refugees, as critics brand the idea 'gesture politics more suited to a banana republic'
By Glen Owen Political Editor for the Mail on Sunday
When Michael Gove launched into some of his typically rousing rhetoric at Cabinet last month, calling passionately for the mansions of Russian oligarchs to be seized and opened up to Ukrainian refugees, Boris Johnson murmured his assent.
But a fortnight later, the Levelling Up Secretary is still fighting to overcome resistance to his idea from the Treasury and Foreign Office, where officials shiver at what one source dismissed as ‘banana republic politics’.
For their part, supporters of Mr Gove’s plan describe the opponents as ‘oligarch apologists’.
The debate flared up again last week at the first meeting of a Cabinet sub-committee on Ukraine, chaired by Downing Street’s chief of staff Steve Barclay, which has been tasked with examining ‘every facet’ of the UK’s refugee response. When Mr Gove highlighted the powerful symbolism of his proposed move, Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly and Treasury Minister John Glen voiced their departments’ reservations.
Under Mr Gove’s plan, British property owned by oligarchs sanctioned because of the war would be taken over by the Government for as long as they remained on the list, allowing Ministers to throw open their doors to refugees.
In the case of Roman Abramovich, Britain’s most high-profile oligarch, that would release at least 70 properties, worth around £500 million, The portfolio includes a 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens with an estimated value of £150 million, and a three-storey penthouse in the Chelsea Waterfront tower, bought for £30 million in 2018. Abramovich had his assets – including Chelsea FC – frozen on Thursday as part of Government sanctions.
Roman Abramovich's portfolio includes a 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens (pictured) with an estimated value of £150 million, and a three-storey penthouse in the Chelsea Waterfront tower, bought for £30 million in 2018
Sutton Place near Guildford, Surrey, England is the former home of billionaire Jean Paul Getty and now owned by a Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov
Another sanctioned oligarch, aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska, worth £2 billion, owns a £50 million property on Belgrave Square in Central London, via a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, and Hamstone House on the exclusive St George’s Hill estate near Weybridge, Surrey. The eight-bedroom mansion includes a swimming pool, sauna, gym and extensive gardens.
Mr Gove’s plan echoes moves by the US Congress to seize assets from oligarchs whose wealth is linked to Vladimir Putin. Under a bill introduced earlier this month, American authorities would be allowed to go further than Mr Gove’s plan by confiscating, rather than just seizing, any property – including luxury villas, yachts, and airplanes – valued more than $5 million with the funds used to benefit the Ukrainian people via military or humanitarian aid.
Supporters of Mr Gove’s plan also point the finger at No 10’s new head of policy, Andrew Griffith, for trying to block it. Mr Griffith, the Arundel MP, is a former Rothschild banker and chief financial officer for Sky TV, who is understood to have argued that the idea is not ‘legally workable’.
Another sanctioned oligarch, aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska, worth £2 billion, owns a £50 million property on Belgrave Square in Central London, via a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, and Hamstone House on the exclusive St George’s Hill estate near Weybridge, Surrey (pictured)
An opponent of the Gove plan said: ‘This is gesture politics more suited to a banana republic’.
But a supporter said: ‘The opposition is being led by oligarch apologists who hide behind the rule of law. These people have been sanctioned for a reason, and no one who has been placed on the sanctions list has ever come off it. This is the ultimate symbolic payback for Putin’s cronies.’
Downing Street declined to comment and a spokesman for Mr Gove said: ‘We don’t comment on private Cabinet discussions.’
The Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and MailOnline UKRAINE REFUGEE APPEAL
Russian oligarchs rush to sell their multi-million dollar properties on Manhattan's Billionaire's Row before asset freezes and sanctions: Iconic Plaza Hotel apartment among the 70 plus properties being quietly shopped around
- Russians are estimated to own over $1 billion in Manhattan real estate but some have listed their New York properties amid fear of asset freezes
- Some 61 properties have already gone on the market or dropped prices and at least another 70 are considering so-called 'whisper sales'
- Properties for sale include suites at the Plaza Hotel and a $41 million mansion
- Not all of the listings have been private. Alexei Kuzmichev, 59, an owner of Alfa-Bank - Russia's largest private bank, which has been slapped by US sanctions — has listed his $41 million Manhattan quadruplex
Russia's wealthiest are trying to quietly sell their Manhattan properties, it has been claimed, amid fears that they could soon face sanctions.
As oligarchs' yachts are impounded around the world and their assets frozen in a bid to pressure Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, some Russians are preemptively trying to cash in on their New York property.
Russian real estate investments are worth at least $1 billion, according to reports.
Some 61 properties have already gone on the market or dropped prices, according to Fox Business, and at least another 70 are considering so-called 'whisper sales' - getting rid of a property privately, without putting it on the market.
Russia's wealthiest are trying to quietly sell their Manhattan properties, it has been claimed, amid fears that they could soon face sanctions
'Everybody's putting feelers out there,' said Dolly Lenz, a real estate agent.
She told Fox that her firm received calls from Russian clients looking to potentially 'whisper list' between 50 and 70 properties, mostly in Manhattan, within the last week.
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'They're not pulling the trigger yet. They're getting ready to pull the trigger.
'Meaning, 'Yes, I'll take whatever the best offering can get me'.
'That could be what comes down the pike. So really, depending on sanctions, and you know where we are with everything, that's all we see potentially is playing out.'
Alexei Kuzmichev, 59, an owner of Alfa-Bank - Russia's largest private bank, which has been slapped by US sanctions — has listed his $41 million Manhattan quadruplex (pictured)
Kuzmichev's luxurious home is listed for $41 million, on the Upper East Side
Alexei Kuzmichev, 59, an owner of Alfa-Bank - Russia's largest private bank, which has been slapped by US sanctions — has listed his $41 million Manhattan quadruplex
Many of the listings were on Manhattan's 'Billionaire's Row', Fox reported.
Not all of the listings have been private.
Alexei Kuzmichev, 59, an owner of Alfa-Bank - Russia's largest private bank, which has been slapped by US sanctions — has listed his $41 million Manhattan quadruplex.
He bought the Upper East Side property, at 33 East 74th Street, in 2016 for $42 million.
Forbes estimates that the financier is worth $6.2 billon.
Another looking to sell is Valery Kogan, the billionaire owner of Moscow's Domodedevo Airport, and his wife Olga.
The pair are quietly shopping their apartment at The Plaza for $50 million, according to sources who spoke to The New York Post.
There have been 16 new listings of apartments at the Plaza, worth between one and $28milion, since the war began.
They are also selling their other Upper East Side home, at 515 Park Avenue, plus an Upper West Side residence at 15 Central Park West.
The couple also intend to sell a Greenwich, Connecticut estate at 18 Simmons Lane, The Post reported.
Valery Kogan is looking to sell his property inside The Plaza, according to reports
There have been 16 new listings of apartments at the Plaza, worth between one and $28milion, since the war began. The Palm Court in The Plaza Hotel in New York City
The Plaza includes the stunning hotel downstairs and luxury apartments upstairs
Kogan (pictured) is the owner of Moscow's main airport and reportedly close to Putin
Lenz said she had a large number of Russian clients a decade ago, but in recent years they have been replaced by those fleeing Hong Kong or Taiwan.
'They kind of went quiet,' Lenz said.
'And they're only out there now because they want to liquidate ahead of a crisis.
'If you ask me to guess because obviously not everybody's telling you everything they're thinking, nor should they.
'I think that they're more afraid of what's coming in the future than it is any absolute knowledge of what's coming in the future. 'They're trying to get ahead of it.'
Two Democratic state lawmakers, Senator Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, who represent Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively, introduced legislation last week aimed at combating 'secretive patterns of real estate investment in New York City among international elites through anonymous LLCs and the use of New York LLCs by wealthy Russian nationals in New York state to purchase luxury homes.'
The bill would require LLCs to disclose their owners to the New York Department of State and would create a public database of which LLCs share common ownership.
Russians are estimated to own over $1 billion in Manhattan real estate, many of which on Billionaire's Row (pictured) but some have listed their New York properties amid fear of asset freezes
Valery Kogan, the billionaire owner of Moscow's Domodedevo Airport, and his wife Olga. The pair are quietly shopping their apartment at the Plaza Hotel for $50 million, according to sources who spoke to The New York Post . They are also selling their other Upper East Side home, at 515 Park Avenue (right), plus an Upper West Side residence at 15 Central Park West (left)
It asserts that anonymous LLC landlords have caused code violations for years in the Hudson Valley, prompting a 2019 state senate investigation, as well as tens of thousands of pandemic-era rental assistance applications to be unnecessarily delayed.
But the use of LLCs to purchase high-end real estate is a common practice, so it's unclear if the proposed legislation will be considered.
'Every single purchaser we've ever had created a new LLC for each and every property. I think the majority of wealthy people purchase an LLC for every reason in the world,' Lenz said.
'We would welcome any transparency to every transaction. We personally go the extra yard to make sure we know who we're dealing with.
'Even though we don't have (know-your-client) rules in real estate like they do in banking – have to vet everyone they talked to – we don't have to, but we do.
'We don't want to talk to anybody we think is unsavory,' she added.
'It's not because they're unsavory, it's because they're afraid of being tied to this situation.'
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