I never cease to be amazed by this instinct to lie immediately in response to any question, even when you know the lie will be quickly and conclusively exposed by documents.
Yesterday, Natalya Timakova, press secretary to Dmitry Medvedev, the leader of United Russia (Russia’s ruling political party), issued a written statement “refuting” our investigation into her boss’s country estate.
Here it is, published by Venediktov:
There are several claims here:
Yes, Medvedev has been to the estate in Milovka (at least they didn’t lie about that).
This cannot be Medvedev’s estate because there are no secure government communications there.
This cannot be Medvedev’s estate because there is no FSO there.
That is to say: she lies without even stopping to think how pathetic and helpless the lie looks.
Secure communications.
The secure communications towers are visible to the naked eye, and we specifically showed them in our film. There are at least two of them.
FSO.
An official FSO unit is located not just in Plyos, but in Milovka itself. And not just any FSO unit, but one from the FSO’s Presidential Security Service—the very department that protects Medvedev.
And their address explicitly says: MILOVKA.
And she lies to us, saying there is no FSO there.
Any directory will tell you it is there. And not just there: in the town of Plyos there are actually two apartment buildings for FSO personnel at 28 and 29 Lesnaya Street. This follows directly from government utility and maintenance contracts that the FSO signs for its own buildings.
An analysis of other contracts also directly indicates that the FSO unit in Milovka provides security for “top state officials.” Each of them cites the same legal basis: Clause 28, Part 2, Article 55 of Federal Law No. 94-FZ — procurement is being carried out for services related to supporting off-site events held by the President of the Russian Federation, the chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and the Government of the Russian Federation (hotel and transport services, operation of computer equipment, catering).
Here is one example.
Medvedev has been to the estate.
Not “Medvedev has been there,” but “Medvedev and his family hang out there all the time.”
This is Plyos, after all. It’s a small town, and half the population works in Milovka.
After our film came out, we were flooded with messages confirming it. Everyone sees Medvedev there:
They write about it and take photos:
They see the excellent high-speed roads leading to the residence.
And they are outraged that birch groves were cut down because “Ilya Medvedev is allergic to birch pollen.”
And so on and so forth.
There are the inevitable interior photos, since thousands of people worked on the construction:
For example, this is what Medvedev’s yoga hall looks like:
And so on and so on.
In summary:
Timakova is lying.
This is Medvedev’s family estate.
The estate was built with private money, and that is corruption.
The estate is guarded by the FSO, and that is a misuse of budget funds.
That’s the situation.
If you know anything about Medvedev’s estate and/or have any documents, you can send them to us completely anonymously through our Black Box tip line.
P.S. The FSO has said that it does not guard the property in Milovka.
Sure. We believe that. And the unit was stationed there (as I proved above) so the officers could admire the scenery.