"Hi, this is Navalny. I'm back."
That is how this post was supposed to begin, but yesterday Alexei Navalny was illegally arrested. He is now being held in Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center. Why? For what? In short — because he did not die. In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned on Putin's orders with the military-grade chemical weapon Novichok. He survived by a miracle. He spent 18 days in a coma, several more weeks in the hospital, and even longer in rehabilitation. But he survived. And then he went on to investigate the attempt on his own life and proved to the whole world that he had been poisoned by serving FSB officers. An entire team: from chemists to scientists to generals.
Alexei came up with the idea for this investigation several months ago, when he had not even yet been discharged from intensive care. He decided to release it on the day he returned to Moscow, so that he could tell you this mind-blowing story himself, from Russia. The story of the man who decided to kill him.
So, here it is. Our first feature-length film. And of course — it's about Putin.
First of all, our special website dedicated to this investigation. A gripping story, unique photographs of some of Russia's most secret sites, documents, records — it's all here.
We were told it was impossible. That this was the biggest secret, the most heavily guarded site in Russia. But we worked hard, and we did it. Today we will show you Putin's biggest secret — his palace. We will show it to you from the outside and from the inside. We are publishing its architectural plans — from the furniture layout to the ventilation grilles. Every room, every corridor, every square meter is now public knowledge. From this moment on, millions of Russians will be able to visit Putin's home.
But wait, you might say. We know about this estate, we've heard that it was once built for Putin, and then, when everyone found out about it, the palace was sold to some businessman.
We studied thousands of documents, spoke to a dozen people involved in the construction, got to the bottom of it all, and can state responsibly: you were lied to. This Black Sea palace has belonged to Vladimir Putin from day one to the present day. And we prove it.
We found out that the palace is managed by a team working for Putin's first cousin once removed, Mikhail Shelomov. We uncovered a network of joint-stock companies and foundations into which Putin's friends funnel hundreds — yes, hundreds — of billions of rubles to finance the constitution guarantor's insane hobbies and развлечения.
And most importantly, we understood a great deal about who Putin really is. A man literally obsessed with luxury, gold, and marble, who has imagined himself the new emperor of Russia. Once you look inside Putin's palace, everything becomes clear: he has been driven mad by impunity and power. If you had all the money in the world, what would you spend it on? We can tell you what Putin spent it on.
On a private casino:
On a theater inside the house:
On imperial interiors and golden eagles:
On an underground ice arena:
There is your answer to the question of what Putin is willing to kill for. For this.
100 billion rubles have been paid for all this madness. Out of our pockets. And this is not just about well-known Putin cronies like Timchenko or Kovalchuk. The palace is being built and maintained at the expense of two state-owned companies — Rosneft and Transneft. They are headed by two of Putin's closest friends — Sechin and Tokarev. They are spending our money to build Putin an underground ice arena and a room for toy cars.
Honestly, we wanted to make an investigation only about this palace. To dot every i and show you what Putin is trying so hard to hide. But while we were digging into the palace, we uncovered the complex and tangled scheme behind Putin's infamous slush fund. A chest into which all of Putin's friends stash kickbacks for the national leader so that he can afford a tsar's life. This slush fund paid for the palace. And it also pays for Vladimir Vladimirovich's other passions. Alina Kabaeva and Svetlana Krivonogikh.
There is much more of interest in our investigation: what percentage of Gazprom belongs to just one of Putin's relatives, vineyards and wineries built for Vladimir Vladimirovich, toilet brushes costing 62,000 rubles, and the guarantor's new old friends who are paying for all of it.
The great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy once described the structure of power in Russia with perfect clarity: "Villains who robbed the people gathered together, hired soldiers and judges to guard their orgy, and feast." This brilliant phrase still describes with 100% accuracy what is happening in our country. The villains robbed the people. They recruited judges, the National Guard (Rosgvardiya), and FSB officers to protect their palaces, while they sit in their private casinos surrounded by wives, mistresses, and children.
Putin himself will never stop. That applies to the stealing, to the price of his toilet brush, and to what he is willing to do to hold on to power. Once, he started with something very small, and this summer he escalated to poisoning his main political enemy with Novichok. Putin has gotten away with it (so far), and that means he will go even further. This will not go away on its own. The moment when he has had enough, calms down, loosens the screws — that moment will never come. This train will keep racing onward until we pull the emergency brake.
Putin first tried to kill Navalny, and now he has put him in prison. Where he will be watched by the same FSB people who tried to poison him. Navalny was jailed on nonexistent legal grounds. He was sentenced in the assembly hall of the Khimki police department, where the court came on call. This is absolute lawlessness and abuse.
The Kremlin does something illegal and criminal and waits: what will happen? If nothing happens, it does something even more illegal and criminal and waits again: what about now? And so on, endlessly. Until we simply say and show: no, this is enough. This is where the red line is, and we will no longer tolerate this lawless abuse.
The text of the investigation with all documents: https://palace.navalny.com/
On January 23, we call on everyone to come out to the central streets and squares of your cities. To stay silent now is a crime. We must fight not only for Alexei, but for our own future as well. Vladimir Putin and his gang will never stop robbing and killing, and whether we stop them depends only on us.
A link with all the rallies is here (it will be updated): https://t.me/teamnavalny/6039
And right now, there are two very simple ways to help our common cause. Share this video, send it to your friends, colleagues, and neighbors. And support ACF's work by setting up a monthly donation.
Any information that could help us in our investigations can be sent anonymously to our Black Box.