In this iconic 2016 investigation, Alexei Navalny describes one of the most absurd displays of official extravagance in Putin’s Russia. The ACF team found that the family of Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov was using a $50 million Bombardier private jet to transport their corgis to international dog shows. This story about corgis flying business class instantly went viral and became the defining symbol of the extraordinary cynicism and detachment from reality of Russia’s elites.
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Hi, this is Alexei Navalny from The Anti‑Corruption
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Foundation. I want to tell you
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about our latest investigation, which
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shocked us so much that we decided to record this
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video. And what came out, really, was
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an investigation thanks to a little thing like this
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corgi? From our previous investigations, you already
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know a lot about Deputy Prime Minister Igor
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Shuvalov. We found his apartment in
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London, a castle in Austria, the family estate
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in Zarechye, several undeclared
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apartments on Kosygin Street, and of course,
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the tsar-apartment in the high-rise
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on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, the jewel of his
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collection. In real estate alone, we found
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that Shuvalov owned assets worth $100 million
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by the most conservative estimate,
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or 6 billion rubles. And this is not just
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real estate — it is the most luxurious
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real estate, with history, excess,
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and opulence. And then there are the cars
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declared in his filings: a Jaguar, a vintage limousine
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ZIL, a Maybach, and also what remained outside
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the declaration: a Rolls-Royce Phantom
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worth 40 million rubles. It is obvious that the official
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Shuvalov leads an exceptionally lavish
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lifestyle. It seems that at this point, well,
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there is nothing left to surprise us with, but we found
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something else: a Bombardier Global
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Express jet. One of the best and most expensive
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business jets. It costs more than $50 million.
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But here is the trick: the owners
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of the plane cannot be found; the owner is hiding
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behind offshore companies. We only know the
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tail number. Using it, all the movements of this
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private jet can be tracked on
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special flight-tracking websites. You simply
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enter the number and see where the plane flew
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over the past year. And here is what we
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found. On May 30, the plane flies to
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Kazakhstan. The next day, Igor
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Shuvalov appears there at a meeting of the
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Eurasian Council. There he is, to the right
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of Putin. Before that, on May 18, the plane
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landed in Sochi. Shuvalov was there
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taking part in the Russia-ASEAN summit. And on
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December 16, 2015, the plane
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flies to Beijing, and on December 17
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the deputy prime minister takes part there in talks
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with his Chinese counterparts. And then, of course,
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Kazan. That was where the Shuvalovs made people laugh
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with apartments of 20
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square meters. Just do not think that this is
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a government plane that
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a deputy prime minister is entitled to by virtue of the office.
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No, Shuvalov is not entitled to that. And
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just look at the most frequent route:
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Moscow–Salzburg. The plane flew there 18
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times, sometimes several times a month.
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That is Shuvalova going to the family dacha. Nowhere and
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never did Shuvalov mention this
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plane — neither in official declarations
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nor in interviews. Fine, let us
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for the sake of objectivity believe
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the deputy prime minister: he does not own a plane
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himself. But then it follows that
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he rents it. And it is easy enough
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to find out how much it costs to charter
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an aircraft like this. For example, a one-way flight
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to Salzburg costs nearly $40,000. So
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one round trip to the dacha
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costs him $80,000.
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But that is not all. We went ahead and
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analyzed absolutely all the movements
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of this plane over the course of a year. Thirteen of them coincided
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with deputy-prime-minister business. Eighteen times
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the plane flew to the Austrian dacha, seven times
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to the London apartment. But there were also flights
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that simply could not be explained
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at all — for example, to Prague, Cyprus,
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or Riga. The plane flies there, but Shuvalov
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is not there. And he seemingly has no business there.
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And now the most important part. Please,
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sit down and make yourselves comfortable. After putting together
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the list of routes, we noticed
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an astonishing pattern. Almost without
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exception, on those days, in those cities,
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dog shows were taking place. And it immediately became clear to us
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who exactly was using
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the private jet. It was Olga Shuvalova, the wife
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of the deputy prime minister. She is a housewife and
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is known in certain circles as a
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professional breeder of
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corgis. Her dogs are multiple-time champions with
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an endless list of
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titles. Shuvalova’s dogs literally
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take part in shows and exhibitions almost every week.
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So let us get acquainted with the dogs as well.
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Pinkerton, Tsesarevich,
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Ostap Bender, I Am Your Idol, Hyuga Boss,
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and our favorite, Fox Pack Gabi,
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Joy of the Elves. These are absolutely real
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names of absolutely real dogs
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owned by Shuvalov. It may seem funny,
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but people really do give dogs names like that. But what definitely will not seem funny to you
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is the way
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these dogs live. The Shuvalovs hired
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special managers to handle
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the care and accompaniment of the corgis —
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at least two of them. The social media accounts of these women
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allow us to immerse ourselves in the luxurious world
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of these royal dogs. On June 20, the private
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jet flies to Riga. And here is a photograph
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of the corgi Tsesarevich on the streets of Riga
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that very day. Then the Bombardier flies to Cyprus.
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During those same days, the corgis are winning there at a
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dog show. The plane is in Prague on the same days, and
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there is a show there too. And then England, just
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the other day — a walk through Windsor. And through
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London too, of course, together with their owner. At
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least eight flights were for dog shows.
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Considering the average cost
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of chartering the plane, transporting the corgis alone
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to these shows cost the family
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of the official Shuvalov more than 40 million
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rubles. Salzburg, London, Cyprus,
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St. Petersburg, Prague, Helsinki, Riga.
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Over the course of their lives, these dogs have literally
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flew halfway around the world on a private jet.
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And this is what it looks like. Take a look,
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the plane’s interior is unmistakable.
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This is the very same Bombardier jet that
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is used by
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[music]
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Shuvalov. In this part of the video, I’m supposed to
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draw some kind of moral. Come on, my
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dear, I’ll move you away from here so you
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don’t have to hear all the
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curses I’m about to unleash.
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[music]
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The moral is that Russian officials
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have, well, excuse me, completely
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lost all sense of proportion. They no longer just fly on
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planes themselves. They don’t just fly their children on
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planes — they fly their
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dogs on them. These people have so much
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money that they are literally bloated with excess.
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Whereas before they stole and hid it, now
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they steal and spend that money
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so openly that they are basically, well,
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throwing their luxurious and
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provocative lifestyle in our faces. Two more important
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things that I definitely want
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to say. First, please, don’t you dare
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even think that Putin, or the government,
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or Medvedev don’t know about this. They know
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perfectly well, and they themselves live in exactly
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the same way. And second, perhaps
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the most important thing: friends, those of you who
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voted for Putin, and those who
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voted for United Russia, you made it possible
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for officials in Russia to steal
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completely openly and live the way they
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do. Please, never do this
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again. The facts we have
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presented in this investigation, as you yourselves
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understand, you will not see on
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state television or in
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the major media outlets. So you would help us a great deal
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if you shared this
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video on your social networks. Many
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thanks.
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[music]
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Are they all like this, or is this one just
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especially sweet? Are there mean
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[music]
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corgis? He’s hiding. I’ll protect you from
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that scoundrel Shuvalov. I hope he won’t take you away.
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Do you want to fly on a private jet?
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Do you? I can see that you do. You’re alive. Good Lord.