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, too, are a little proud: just look at how much our lot steal! Wow. So, here is an update on the current status of our research into Yakunin’s dacha. 1. The property in the photographs 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 when the monumental construction project was underway there. Limestone was brought in from Germany, granite from Kazakhstan, and all sorts of things like that. After the asset-declaration push began in 2011, Yakunin transferred the dacha into someone else’s name, but he continues to use it. This information has been confirmed by multiple sources and is completely reliable. 2. 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 do not know about it, and are helping us a great deal with this: a) The deleted post from Yaplakal (later the site said it had been removed at the request of Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media and internet regulator) has been reposted in many places, including here. b) The video of the pond being built for Yakunin (incidentally, below there is testimony that the ponds were dug by Metrostroy) was taken down, but it is available here. c) A man who worked at Yakunin’s dacha appeared on the air on Russian News Service, but our brave Sergei Leonidovich Dorenko, who until recently had practically declared war on Yakunin, deleted the link (Google cache). However, the text survives here, for example. I quote it in full: “On the live broadcast of Russian News Service, construction worker Alexei described details of an elite property outside Moscow which, according to bloggers, is the dacha of Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin. According to him, the dacha near Domodedovo, on the Akulinino estate, belongs personally to Vladimir Yakunin and his son, and he saw the Russian Railways chief there many times. ‘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 only with passes. There were 300 Vietnamese workers there; they killed all the fish with electric rods. The exterior finish is Italian marble. The bathhouse has three sections, 14 by 14 meters, Italian furniture, a marble bar counter, a fireplace, stained-glass windows. It’s made of glass, there aren’t really any walls as such, changing rooms, showers, everything is very expensive. There’s a 50-meter swimming pool in the house. There’s a fur storage room, a refrigerator. The small house is the son’s, a guest house, and the main one is his. There’s a prayer room, a chapel. Apparently Metrostroy dug the ponds there for 150 million rubles. It’s finished with gold-colored tile, and the space is huge—a hammam, bathhouse, steam room, panoramic view so you can look out over the forest,’ he said. Earlier, photographs allegedly showing Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin’s dacha appeared on the internet. The dacha occupies 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 (0.9 miles) of underground passages from the main house to the garage.’ On the estate grounds there is a two-story servants’ house, a 50-meter swimming pool, and ‘a modest little bathhouse for poor orphans, 1,400 square meters (about 15,070 square feet).’ 3. Now to the most interesting part. On Sunday, a small expedition organized by the People’s Alliance party visited the vacation properties of the head of Russian Railways. Many thanks to the Alliance for this. You can see a detailed photo report here.”
Briefly, I should note only that our merry state railway man didn’t just 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 Zlodeika (“Villainess”).
Around the entire perimeter, our modest railway official has a fence 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 describe to within a single meter exactly 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 land seizure and for blocking the river.
(source) A formal letter will be sent shortly. Let Vorobyov show all of us, and the residents of Moscow Region in particular, how he deals with his colleague in the criminal gang known as the United Russia party. There is a sea of violations there, and blocking off the river is completely beyond the pale. We are waiting with great anticipation.