The original post was published on 03.06.2013 at navalny.livejournal.com
While the whole world is studying photographs of the hydrogen atom and taking pride in scientists’ achievements, we are studying photographs of Russian Railways chief Yakunin’s dacha. And we’re a little proud too: just look at how much our people steal! Wow.
So, here is an update on the current status of our investigation into Yakunin’s dacha.
The property in the photographs most definitely belongs to Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin.
This document has been circulating since yesterday. I didn’t post it until its authenticity had been confirmed.
That’s exactly right. The land plot belonged directly to Yakunin at the time this monumental construction project was underway. Limestone was brought in from Germany, granite from Kazakhstan, and all sorts of other things.
After the push to declare assets began in 2011, Yakunin re-registered the dacha in someone else’s name, but he continues to use it. This information has been confirmed by multiple sources and is completely reliable.
Facts about Yakunin’s dacha are being scrubbed from the internet at astonishing speed. That astonishing speed is matched only by astonishing stupidity, because we all remember the "Streisand effect". Retired FSB colonels working in Russian Railways security apparently know nothing about it, and are helping us a great deal in this:
a) The deleted post from Yaplakal (the site later said the post had been removed at the request of Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulator) has been reposted in many places, including here.
b) The video of pond construction for Yakunin (incidentally, below there is testimony that the ponds were dug by "Metrostroy") has been taken down, but it is available here.
c) A man appeared on the air of Russian News Service who had worked at Yakunin’s dacha, but our brave Sergei Leonidovich Dorenko, who only recently had practically declared war on Yakunin, deleted the link (Google cache). However, the text has been preserved here, for example. I am reproducing it in full:
Live on air on Russian News Service, builder Alexei described one of the elite properties outside Moscow which, according to bloggers, is the dacha of Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin. According to him, the dacha near Domodedovo, at the Akulinino estate, belongs personally to Vladimir Yakunin and his son, and he saw the head of Russian Railways there on multiple occasions. “I worked there. I built that bathhouse myself. I can confirm everything. I saw Yakunin there, I could talk about it for a long time. I worked there about three years ago. It’s Akulinino. The whole place is fenced off, entry is by pass only. There were 300 Vietnamese workers there; they killed all the fish with electric fishing rods. The exterior is finished in Italian marble. The bathhouse has three sections, each 14 by 14 meters, with Italian furniture, a marble bar counter, a fireplace, stained-glass windows. It’s made of glass, there are basically no walls, changing rooms, showers, everything is very expensive. There is a 50-meter pool inside the house. There is a fur storage room and a refrigerator. The small house belongs to the son, it’s the guest house, and the main one is his. There is a prayer room and a chapel. Apparently Metrostroy dug the ponds there for 150 million rubles. It’s finished with gold-colored tiles, and the space is enormous — a hammam, bathhouse, steam room, panoramic views so you can look out over the forest,” he said. Earlier, photographs allegedly showing the dacha of Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin appeared online. The dacha covers 70 hectares (about 173 acres) near Domodedovo. According to the author of the original post, he worked on the “smart home” system there. They “dug their own lakes, built a ‘small’ garage for 15 cars, a separate bay for a Maybach, and constructed one and a half kilometers of underground passages from the main house to the garage.” On the estate there is a two-story servants’ house, a 50-meter swimming pool, and a “modest little bathhouse” measuring 1,400 square meters (about 15,070 square feet).
Now for the most interesting part. On Sunday, a small expedition organized by the People’s Alliance party visited the vacation spots of the head of Russian Railways. Many thanks to the Alliance for this.
Here you can view a detailed photo report.
I’ll just briefly note that our merry state railway man didn’t merely tack a huge amount of other people’s land onto his own 700 sotkas (7 hectares, or about 17.3 acres). He also blocked off a river with the very telling name “Zlodeyka” (“Villainess”).
Around the entire perimeter, our modest railway official has a fence equipped with motion sensors.
In short, take a look — it’s interesting.
In the near future, the “People’s Alliance” will organize a new expedition, this time equipped with GPS trackers, in order to determine to within a single meter how much land the insatiable railway boss Yakunin has illegally grabbed. Anyone wishing to take part can sign up with Georgy Alburov (email: g@alburov.ru)
I will keep you informed about our further findings, but for now I simply want to notify everyone that we are presenting the acting governor of Moscow Region, Monsieur Vorobyov, with a clear and legally grounded demand: hold citizen Yakunin and his unidentified accomplices accountable for illegal land seizure and blocking the river.
A formal letter will be sent shortly.
Let Vorobyov show all of us — and the residents of Moscow Region in particular — how he will deal with his colleague from the ~~criminal group~~ United Russia party.
There are countless violations there, and blocking the river is completely beyond the pale.
We await it eagerly.