The day before yesterday, the outlet Important Stories published a truly important story. An investigation that shattered the myth of the supposedly only decent politician in Russia. A real diplomat, honest, principled, respectable. A favorite of millions.
Putin admires him and puts him at the very top of United Russia’s party list for the State Duma. So that voters will see his name and think, “Oooh, I’d love a deputy like that, I’ll definitely vote for United Russia.” According to every poll, Lavrov is almost more popular than Putin himself. He’s hugely famous, and Russians trust him.
They shouldn’t. They really shouldn’t. And thanks to Important Stories, we now know why.
Investigative journalists found that Lavrov has been living a double life for years. In public, he is a respectable family man with 50 years of marriage behind him, a modest workhorse who, by United Russia standards, lives quite poorly. Traditional values, conservatism, “spiritual bonds” (a Kremlin slogan about traditional moral values). In reality, all this time he has had a secret second family, a mistress showered with expensive cars and elite real estate in Moscow, the Moscow suburbs, and London.
In fact, it’s wrong to call her a secret mistress or anything like that. This is a real family. Of Lavrov’s official wife, there is little more than an old photograph online and the declaration, a fake one, that he files every year and for some reason still lists her in.
As Important Stories found, literally everyone knew about Lavrov’s real wife. Well, everyone except you and me. In many people’s contact lists, she is saved as Svetlana Lavrova.
A source in the Foreign Ministry told journalists that everyone at the ministry knows this woman is Lavrov’s wife—and one of the most influential people in the ministry. She can get someone fired if she doesn’t like them. She attends official events. She even accompanies Lavrov when he meets with Putin.
And of course, she is very, very rich. This unemployed woman owns a 260-square-meter apartment on Prechistenka Street. In the same building, you can find a listing for a similar one: “luxury worthy of the chosen few.” It costss nearly 700 million rubles.
Among those “chosen few” is her neighbor, Lyubov Mikhailovna Kabaeva, the mother of Putin’s partner, who has an identical apartment in the same building. Lavrov’s companion also has a country house in the Moscow suburbs.
And a whole fleet of cars, including a Mercedes worth 20 million rubles.
Then there’s her daughter—Lavrov’s stepdaughter—who lives in London, in an apartment in an ultra-elite neighborhood that she bought at age 21. For £4.4 million, or 400 million rubles. Must have saved up on student lunches.
It’s all very revealing. The great and terrible Foreign Ministry. Lavrov, the mighty geopolitical strategist. A legendary institution that in reality, like everything in Putin’s Russia, has rotted through completely. The legend of Sergei Lavrov has collapsed: he is no geopolitical mastermind at all, just an ordinary crook, like all Putin’s officials—he lies, steals, and spends money on his secret family. And we learned this thanks to a small report by real independent journalists.
And following Important Stories, we looked into this mysterious woman ourselves. We found astonishing details about their life together and discovered that Lavrov’s mistress is supported not only by Lavrov, but by all of us. We learned how Lavrov entertains his partner and his new relatives at the Foreign Ministry’s expense—at taxpayers’ expense.
And then it turned out that all of this pales beside the rest of the story. Because it is much bigger than a secret family. We discovered that Foreign Minister Lavrov is being kept by an oligarch. He lives at the oligarch’s expense, takes bribes from him, and provides him with specific services in return. For that, he should be removed from office immediately and put on trial.
In a way, it’s almost funny. We’ve been investigating Putin’s crooks for so many years that our different investigations are starting to meet. To intersect. To overlap with one another.
It’s like a giant puzzle. We assemble separate pieces, think we’ve put them together, and then—bam!—it turns out they fit with other pieces we assembled long ago.
There’s nothing surprising about it. Putin has been in power for thirty years, if you count from his St. Petersburg days. His favorite thieving officials have been sitting in their chairs just as long. And if everyone spends thirty years continuously stealing and carving up the country, of course their paths will cross somewhere. Like the mold in Putin’s palace: first in one corner, then another, and then suddenly—everywhere.
And this time, our investigations—and not only ours—have intertwined in an especially bizarre way. Today’s main character collided with the erotic novel by escort Nastya Rybka and with the TikTok account of 11-year-old MP Slutsky’s daughter, so that you and I could learn how Russian diplomacy really works. And what people at the Foreign Ministry are really busy doing.
Two weeks ago, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe released an investigation into scandal-ridden LDPR lawmaker Leonid Slutsky. He is the man who sexually harassed female journalists. And faced no consequences for it. Besides being a scoundrel and a lowlife, Slutsky is also a thief. Yet more proof of that was found on his 11-year-old daughter’s TikTok account. On TikTok, she shows off Bentley cars and vacations in the Maldives, talks about how she’ll get a Swiss passport in five years, and flaunts sneakers worth nearly a million rubles and Gucci clothes.
Among other things, those TikToks led journalists to Slutsky’s splendid vacation home. In Turkey. Worth 260 million rubles. The report notes that the luxury yacht Saluzi docked right by the property. This is what it looks like—very distinctive paintwork, so please remember it.
A local blogger who tracks vessels in Turkey’s territorial waters wrote on Twitter that none other than Foreign Minister Lavrov was vacationing on that yacht.
A tweet is weak evidence, of course. Especially since the election campaign is in full swing, and Lavrov is the main face of United Russia. He simply couldn’t have time for a vacation like that! But we decided to check anyway. What if it’s true? Either way, it’s interesting.
So let’s see when the yacht was sailing near Slutsky’s Turkish villa.
On July 26 this year, the yacht left the port of Yalıkavak, a town near Bodrum. On August 1 and 2, it stopped near the place where Leonid Slutsky’s villa is located. On August 6, the yacht returned to Bodrum. In total, Saluzi spent 11 days at sea with guests aboard. Now we need to understand where Lavrov was during that time. Judging by the news, he was right there, at work.
On July 28, Lavrov sent greetings to participants in the Young Diplomats Forum of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries. On July 29, Lavrov sent greetings to participants in the 12th International Economic Summit “Russia–Islamic World.” On July 30, believe it or not, Lavrov once again sent greetings—this time to participants in the International Youth Forum of Russian Compatriots. On August 4, an interview with Lavrov appeared in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets. And at midnight between July 31 and August 1, the Foreign Ministry website published Lavrov’s video greeting for Railway Worker’s Day.
Congratulating the nation’s railway workers is clearly a very important part of the foreign minister’s job. But notice: the news about Lavrov consists either of greetings to participants at various forums or a written interview. There is only one video—the one about railway workers. There he is, sitting there in the flesh, with flags behind him and a picture of the Foreign Ministry building.
You can’t hear waves crashing or seagulls crying in the video, so clearly it wasn’t filmed on a yacht.
We downloaded the video, just in case, and checked the metadata. The creation date is July 22.
But it was released a week later, on August 1. In other words, it was canned footage.
A favorite Putin-era trick, aimed at gullible viewers of state TV. You record ten different videos in advance—with one governor, then another, then a minister, then a security guard. Then you release them gradually in the news, as if they were fresh and happened that very day. Meanwhile, you can disappear somewhere for a month. Everyone will watch and think you’re at work.
This is certainly an argument in favor of Lavrov really having been on the yacht, but it still isn’t conclusive proof. And just a few days ago, our investigation would have ended right here. What else could we have done? Lavrov is an extremely private person, he has no social media, and no one happens to photograph him on the street either.
But now things are different. We know that Lavrov has a stepdaughter, Polina Polyakova—the very one from London, with the 400-million-ruble apartment. And she has an Instagram. Here she is, a month and a half ago, at exactly the right time, filming a video on the beach and adding a geotag—it is exactly the place, the very resort where Slutsky has his villa and where his daughter films her TikToks. Then we see Polina on a yacht. And after the next clip, there is no doubt left. Polina waves to the staff and departs on that very colorful yacht on which, according to media reports, Lavrov was vacationing.
So we have the claim of a Turkish blogger on the ground that Lavrov was there. We established that his stepdaughter was on the yacht, but we were still missing one more guest. Where was Lavrov’s lady love herself, Svetlana Polyakova?
How fortunate that we have records of the Lavrov family’s flights over several years. On July 26, a chartered business jet carrying Svetlana Polyakova—a Falcon 7X—flew from Moscow to Milas-Bodrum Airport.
That same evening, the yacht Saluzi put out to sea not far from the airport. On August 6, Saluzi docked, and the Lavrov family flew back to Moscow from the same airport. On this private jet, an Embraer 650.
The Turkish vacation of the minister and his secret family can be considered proven. It only remains to add that chartering this particular yacht costs $480,000 per week.
Plus expenses, but let’s not even count those. That means the minister and his family’s 11-day vacation cost $754,000. 55 million rubles. In 11 days. That is Lavrov’s entire salary for the last seven years. And someone paid for it!
But even that is not the most interesting thing we found in the flight records of Lavrov’s secret family. There is much more ahead.
Let us remind you: Svetlana Polyakova is simply Lavrov’s partner. She is NOT a Foreign Ministry employee, NOT an official, and essentially just some random person. Nevertheless, she travels with Lavrov at state expense on all official trips. Apparently, the minister simply cannot work without her. He needs her in Addis Ababa:
And in Paris:
Without her, it is apparently impossible to go to the Munich Security Conference:
Over the past seven years, Svetlana Polyakova has used Lavrov’s official plane as if it were her own 60 times. Here are her “business trips”: France, Ethiopia, Austria, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Mongolia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Portugal, Algeria, Tunisia, Vietnam, China, Slovakia, Greece, and Azerbaijan.
So as not to be unfounded and so you don’t think this is made up: Lavrov’s plane flew to Azerbaijan on December 2–3, 2019. The purpose was a meeting with the president and foreign minister of Azerbaijan. We have no doubt Lavrov was there—there are plenty of photos and videos online. But was his secret wife there too? She was. In Baku, Lavrov met with the well-known Azerbaijani artist Sakit Mammadov. Here is a photo of the two of them. And here they are as a group of three: Mammadov, Lavrov, and Polyakova.
The day after returning from Azerbaijan, Lavrov and Polyakova flew on a special flight to Bratislava for a meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers. When crossing the border, Lavrov’s mistress stated that the purpose of her trip was a “visit for official negotiations through state government institutions.”
In general, when traveling with Lavrov, she states that these are not tourist trips but specifically “business trips to a diplomatic mission.”
And again, let us remind you: she does not work for the Foreign Ministry. We combed through every available database, old and new. Lavrov and Polyakova have been together since at least the early 2000s, and probably earlier. They were flying together to St. Petersburg as far back as 2004. But we did not find a single mention of her employment or government service. Why the hell is some random woman flying with the foreign minister to negotiations with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (here is the news report, and here is Polyakova’s flight) and the Emir of Kuwait (news report, Polyakova’s flight)?!
In fact, Svetlana Polyakova is occupied with entirely different things, far removed from diplomacy. She is an actress. Polyakova is registered as a sole proprietor; according to her business record, she is engaged in the production of films and television programs.
“Actress” is, of course, a generous term for her. We’re being complimentary. Because yes, the films formally exist, but acting talent cannot be bought. Somewhere online we found this magnificent film. Featuring Dima Bilan. He plays a White Army officer, a hero, a brave defender of the motherland. Its rating is 4.6 out of 10.
Svetlana Polyakova appears in this film in a bit part. Lavrov’s partner was given a prestigious role with a full three lines. She plays a countess. Everyone bows to her and applauds.
Right now, Svetlana Polyakova is making her second film—Montevideo Unit. We found the ceremonial plate that is traditionally smashed before filming begins, listing the entire crew—and our Svetlana Polyakova is named there as a producer, while her daughter Polina is listed as an actress.
All right. Lavrov takes his mistress on official trips. Proven. That is outrageous enough, of course, but in reality it gets even worse. Polyakova’s daughter, Polina, also travels with them on Lavrov’s special aircraft. From March 19 to March 21, 2017, she flew with Lavrov to Japan. Lavrov and Shoigu met there with their Japanese counterparts. And Polina simply had fun and strolled around Tokyo.
The MOTHER of Lavrov’s partner also flies on the Foreign Ministry’s special aircraft. In other words, his unofficial mother-in-law. She is 73 years old. Tamara Polyakova flew with Lavrov to Hamburg in December 2016, where Lavrov held talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. In December 2017, she flew with Lavrov to Vienna, where he had a meeting with the president of Austria. And in February 2020, she flew with Lavrov to the 56th Munich conference. And everywhere, Lavrov’s 70-something mother-in-law listed the purpose of her trip as a “business trip.” To a diplomatic mission.
Interesting—maybe everyone does this? Maybe John Kerry also takes his mistress’s mother to negotiations? Was there a special program in Munich for foreign ministers’ secret mothers-in-law?
Let’s say this again. Lavrov takes not only his mistress, but also her mother and daughter to the most important interstate negotiations. And on top of that, the 18-year-old niece of Lavrov’s mistress is traveling the world on Foreign Ministry business! Her name is Valeria Polyakova. She flew to Azerbaijan on a Foreign Ministry plane as an “accompanying family member.”
In March 2019, she flew with him to Vienna. And in December 2016, she flew to Hamburg on Lavrov’s plane. A business trip to a diplomatic mission. That is exactly what it says. A business trip at age 13.
On that same trip, let us remind you, Lavrov’s mother-in-law—70-year-old Tamara Polyakova—also flew.
Valeria Polyakova is now 18, and she is very much benefiting from her position as Lavrov’s niece. They are clearly grooming the girl to become a diplomat. She studies at MGIMO (Russia’s elite diplomatic university), speaks at the UN as part of the Russian delegation on anti-drug issues. Lavrov also found a place in the Foreign Ministry for this young diplomat’s mother—the wife of his mistress’s brother, Yekaterina Vadyaeva. She works as Deputy Director of the Public Relations Department of the Main Production and Commercial Directorate for Servicing the Diplomatic Corps under Russia’s Foreign Ministry. The department is responsible for the work of foreign missions in Russia. True, mentions of her name have now been erased from the Foreign Ministry website, although she still works there. What is it? Embarrassment? They don’t want people to know that the great diplomat and minister Sergei Lavrov uses the Foreign Ministry as a feeding trough for his relatives?
What a disgrace, really. Not a ministry, but a shame upon Russia. They carry out Putin’s dirtiest business—one day shipping cocaine around the world, the next covering up the attempted murder of Navalny with chemical weapons. And meanwhile the minister is quietly looting the Foreign Ministry itself. Flying everyone around on planes. Showing the world to his mistress, her mother, her niece, her daughter. Finding them jobs. Vacationing with them on a yacht. And nothing happens to him; if he gets caught, so what. He’ll just once again talk about how great Putin is, how the whole world has risen against Russia, and then, just to be extra safe, say a prayer. And that’s it—there he is, the leader of United Russia’s federal party list.
But we saved our best discovery for the very end. A discovery for which Lavrov should not merely be removed from the election—he should be jailed.
Lavrov and his family have been kept by an oligarch for years. He pays for their vacations. They fly on his planes. They sail on his yacht and stay in his homes.
From the Lavrov family’s flight records, we learned that Sergei Lavrov’s second family literally uses Deripaska’s planes as if they were their own.
When we were working on our investigation into Deripaska, we wondered: why would one person, even an oligarch, need three identical private jets? What does he do with them? At last we understand. He simply uses them to transport the Lavrov family and other officials around the world. Like taxis.
Svetlana flew on Deripaska’s planes to Sardinia in 2014, 2016, and 2017, to Montenegro in 2015, to Austria to celebrate New Year 2016, and to the German cities of Karlsruhe and Hanover, also in 2016. Her mother also flies on Deripaska’s plane—he took her to Germany (once and twice). And Lavrov’s underage niece, Valeria Polyakova, is on the same list. She and her mother—the wife of Lavrov’s mistress’s brother, let us remind you—flew on Deripaska’s planes to Sardinia, Austria, and Norway.
And here is a photo from the Instagram account of Lavrov’s stepdaughter Polina.
She is at a ski resort in Austria. She stayed at a hotel owned by Deripaska. Here are several photos of Polina from different years—posing against the backdrop of a pool and a colonnaded building resembling an ancient temple.
Now let’s quickly soar over Deripaska’s villa in Montenegro and quickly find that very pool. And that very colonnaded building.
Polina takes photos here. In 2017, as we can see from the caption on the photo above, she celebrated her birthday here. Where else would a foreign minister’s stepdaughter celebrate her 22nd birthday if not at an oligarch’s villa? And here is a photo of Polina in Sardinia. And the caption.
She calls this place her second home. Perhaps someone should inform the actual owner of that home, Oleg Deripaska. Because she is posing at his Villa Valkyrie in Porto Cervo.
The photo was taken right here, by the pool.
To prove it, we flip Polina’s photo horizontally—it was taken mirrored—open Google Street View, and find everything very quickly. There is the tall tree. The tree partly blocks the bay on the left, and the two houses are unmistakable.
Just in case, so that no one has any doubts: oligarch Oleg Deripaska is NOT this relative of Lavrov’s lover or boyfriend. Polina has a boyfriend in England, and it is not Oleg Deripaska.
Checked. Moving on.
Polina also calls her mother’s country house in the Moscow suburbs her other home. She posted more than enough photos for us to study the interiors, but we especially liked these shots.
In one of them, beneath a bouquet, you can spot some kind of booklet and a photo of Lavrov. In the second, we were interested in this man, whose face is strategically hidden by a chandelier. But his watch is visible, and it looks very much like Lavrov’s.
And his hand. With a very distinctive, recognizable shape of fingers.
And these shots were also filmed by Polina Polyakova, Lavrov’s secret relative, at some country house outside Moscow—but clearly a different one. Here is a view of a lake or reservoir, with a pier visible; it is hard to tell where it is. Then Polina turns and films the house on the shore. We found the place: the dacha is on the Klyazma Reservoir, in a secluded area called Bukhta Radosti (“Bay of Joy”). The pier, the house, the boat—all of it is clearly visible by satellite. A huge plot of land measuring 35.5 hectares is leased by a company that, after just a couple of steps, leads us to Valentina Petrovna Deripaska, Oleg Deripaska’s mother. Let’s open Polina’s story again—here is another view of the waterfront part of the dacha. If you freeze the frame here, you will see a yacht.
That yacht also belongs to Deripaska. Recognize it?
In 2018, we released an investigation into how oligarch Deripaska hired a dozen prostitutes and set off with them on a yacht voyage. To Norway. One of the guests on the yacht was Nastya Rybka, a young escort who recorded everything happening on the yacht on her phone.
At the time, she simply wanted to brag that an oligarch had hired her and that he liked her. But government official Sergei Prikhodko accidentally ended up in the frame.
And in this absurd way he was exposed: oligarch Deripaska was taking him, a deputy prime minister, on cruises with prostitutes. Later, Rybka wrote a book. A good third of it consists of descriptions of sex orgies on that yacht, their shared vacation, and even conversations between Prikhodko and Deripaska about international politics—apparently in between orgies.
So, in the background we see that exact same yacht from our old investigation. And it did not end up in the frame by accident. Foreign Minister Lavrov’s family ALSO VACATIONS on the very same yacht as Nastya Rybka. On July 4, 2016, Lavrov’s nieces Valeria and Alexandra Polyakova, together with their mother Yekaterina Vadyaeva, flew from Moscow to Molde on Deripaska’s private plane. It is a small coastal town in Norway. Here is a photo from Alexandra Polyakova’s Instagram, taken during the days of the trip on Deripaska’s yacht in Norway. We compare it with known photos of Deripaska’s yacht. The flagpole and the canvas cover are the same.
There is also this photo from that trip, posted a little later. The railings match the ones Nastya Rybka showed us.
It is definitely the same yacht. On July 10, Lavrov’s secret family—at least the minister’s nieces and their mother, and who else was there one can only guess—flew back to Moscow. And three weeks later, they were replaced on the yacht by a dozen escorts and government official Sergei Prikhodko.
People often reproach us: you keep saying this official was bribed by so-and-so, this oligarch is supporting this or that United Russia politician. But what is the point of giving them bribes? What is the motive? What services are these millions of dollars in bribes paying for? Prove it!
In the case of Deripaska and Lavrov, it is as simple as can be. No hypotheses, speculation, or theories are needed. Just open the news and it becomes obvious. Minister Lavrov is oligarch Deripaska’s personal lobbyist. Lavrov uses his state office—the office of foreign minister—to sort out Deripaska’s little problems. To help his business. And him personally.
Lavrov bent over backward to help Deripaska obtain a U.S. visa. He personally wrote letters on official letterhead to lobbyists, asking them to assist Deripaska as effectively as possible. He asked to be kept informed—he, the foreign minister—about the progress of work on the oligarch’s personal visa issues. In one letter, he called Deripaska “an outstanding business leader who serves as an engine of the Russian and global economy.” And as we have learned, he also serves as the “engine” of the luxurious life of the Russian foreign minister’s family.
When Deripaska’s company ran into conflict with the authorities in Guinea, where he has bauxite and aluminum operations, Lavrov rushed there to sort out the issue. And he got results: using his status, he personally met with the president of Guinea and resolved all of Deripaska’s problems. No wonder Deripaska has been taking his whole family on vacation for years.
Deripaska also has business interests in Jamaica—and there too Lavrov intercedes on his behalf. He secured preferential treatment for Rusal in alumina extraction. Now the minister can continue using Deripaska’s private planes with a sense of a job well done.
When Western countries impose sanctions on Deripaska, Lavrov throws himself into defending his benefactor. With the full force of the Foreign Ministry, he came down on a Swedish company that had merely refused to supply spare parts to the GAZ Group owned by Deripaska. And Lavrov described U.S. sanctions against Deripaska as nothing less than “Russophobia” and “genocide.” Lavrov is ready to start World War III for the sponsor of his family, making all Russians hostages to Deripaska’s interests.
Let’s be honest: we see virtually no difference between Deripaska’s relationship with escort Nastya Rybka and his relationship with Minister Lavrov. It is exactly the same transactional principle. Deripaska pays, and Nastya Rybka and Sergei Lavrov provide services. They cater to his interests. The only difference is the amount and the status. Nastya Rybka is an ordinary escort. Lavrov is a minister. But everyone gets the same yacht ride.
Hypocrisy. Lies. Theft. Meanness. Cynicism. These are the true values of United Russia. Under the pretext of conservative family values and protecting morality, Putin seized the country and turned it into a personal wallet for enriching himself, his relatives, and his friends. Under the pretext of some supposed attack on our “spiritual bonds” (the Kremlin’s rhetoric about traditional values), some external threat, he turned Russia into a poor pariah state, a country that is somehow always in the trenches and always fighting everyone. Tons of lies are poured over us—about family, about love, about fidelity and patriotism—but all of it is hypocrisy.
Their real life is second families, yachts, planes, and palaces. A royal, glamorous life at the expense of oligarchs. That is Putin’s ideology. That is what should be written on United Russia’s campaign posters.
Just look at this disgusting trio. Our finest and most popular politicians, the saviors of Russia. The very people you are being asked to vote for in the State Duma elections in just a few days.
Lavrov has two families. A fake one for the declarations, and a real one of billionaires. On yachts and private jets. One week of vacation costs them 50 million rubles, and their real estate in Moscow and London is worth a billion. Lavrov flies his distant relatives off on vacations aboard state aircraft. He seems to think this is normal. He has completely forgotten that a ministerial portfolio is not a title he was born with—quite the opposite. It is a job, a hard and demanding job. It is supposed to benefit the Russians he represents on the international stage. But there is no talk here of serving the people. Lavrov, like Putin’s other cronies, has spent 17 years parasitizing his office and using the post of minister to live in style. They are literally milking an entire country, believing they have no duties, only endless privileges to which they are somehow entitled. And then we are told: vote for them—what’s not to like? Lavrov is so great at putting Western partners in their place!
Or Shoigu. The same story, almost copy-pasted. A double life, and a mistress who was a flight attendant. Just look at the house on Rublyovka owned by Elena Shebunova, Shoigu’s former partner. How is that even possible? She bears Shoigu a son, and Shoigu showers her with billions. Through state contracts for supplying food, uniforms, and construction materials to the Emergency Situations Ministry and the Defense Ministry. They split up four years ago, but the defense minister’s second family is still getting richer. It cannot be stopped!
When Shoigu’s son had just turned 19, can you guess what happened? He became a dollar millionaire. Danila Shebunov owns a company that last spring became the owner of two office spaces (extracts 1, 2) in a business center in Moscow. The total area of Shoigu’s son’s property is nearly 400 square meters, and this real estate is worth 150 million rubles. Why? Why do people raise money by text message so some children can get medical treatment and survive, while Shoigu’s child—whom he does not even officially acknowledge—handles hundreds of millions of rubles at age 19? Because that child was born to a corrupt defense minister.
And then there is Putin, of course. The chief ideologue of all this hypocrisy and cynicism. He started his second family during his very first term, in the early 2000s. A poor young woman from St. Petersburg, Svetlana Krivonogikh, gave birth to his daughter Liza, and became one of the richest women in Russia. She was given a 3 percent stake in Bank Rossiya. Not only does she never have to work another day in her life, she is provided for several generations ahead.
All that time, Vladimir Vladimirovich posed for the cameras with his official wife, Lyudmila. After all, voters dislike second families so much.
What family values? What do we now know about the family life of Putin—the man who loves to talk about traditional values more than anyone? That half of Moscow is shut down for a gymnast who is supposedly unrelated to him? That the gymnast’s mother, just like Svetlana Krivonogikh’s mother, gets apartments from Gazprom? That the gymnast has somehow been put in charge of all the Russian media outlets bought up by Putin’s cronies? What kind of mockery is this? What do you take us for?
This simply has to be stopped. Russia in the 21st century cannot be governed by people LIKE THIS. We are better than this, we deserve more, and we are ready to fight for it. We will continue telling you stories that are often frightening to tell, but absolutely must be told. Others will continue engaging in politics despite being threatened, imprisoned, and killed. Still others, no less brave, will take to the streets for our freedom.
Be sure to come to the polls this weekend. And vote against United Russia. Against Putin’s party of crooks and thieves. The only effective way to drive these scoundrels out is “Smart Voting.” That means consolidated voting for the one specific candidate with the best chance of defeating the United Russia candidate.
We have already published the names of candidates for all 225 State Duma districts. Look for them on the Smart Voting website. If the site is blocked, look in the app (AppStore and Google Play). If that gets blocked too, the list can be found in our Telegram bot. On our social media—anywhere.
You will have two ballots. One will list individual people—there you vote for the candidates from the Smart Voting list. The second ballot will list parties—and that is where crooks and frauds like Shoigu and Lavrov will appear. There, you should vote for any major parliamentary party except United Russia. Voting for small parties is pointless—they will not clear the threshold, and votes cast for them will end up benefiting United Russia.
So hold your nose, close your eyes, and tick the box however you like, even at random. Remember: it will be a vote that does not go to Putin and United Russia. And that is the most important thing.
Take part in Smart Voting.
Freedom for Alexei Navalny.