Maria Pevchych, a Russian investigative journalist and head of the Alexei Navalny anti-corruption fund, talks about how President Vladimir Putin’s ex-wife and her new partner got rich through Kremlin-organized donations.

“Look at this athletic young gentleman. Is he Putin’s son-in-law or cousin? Already at the age of 33, he threw away millions of euros on beautiful real estate throughout Europe,” Pevchych notes in a series of posts on his page Twitter.

“And who is he really?” she asks rhetorically. “Villas and apartments in France, Switzerland and Spain. What a nice portfolio for someone who isn’t a businessman or the son of an oligarch and doesn’t even have a real job. So what’s the secret to his success? Simple: married Putin’s ex-wife, 20 years older than him. This is Artur Ocheretny,” the investigative journalist explains.

She reminds that Lyudmila and Vladimir Putin announced their divorce in 2013 (the act was officially registered a year later), then their marriage was already fictitious for a decade:

“Ludmila was never a real first lady. I hardly saw her in public and never heard her speak. It was used once a year as a living decoration at religious services. As you know, Putin has always promoted ‘family values’ and ‘spiritual ties’, and for that you need a wife.”

“But being full of shit, as always, our president has had many affairs, he is the father of at least one secret daughter born in 2003. Therefore, the divorce did not come as a surprise to anyone. But the announcement was made quite strange,” Pevchych continues his story.

In a strange way, Vladimir Putin announced a divorce

She recalls that journalists “surprised” the Putins in the theater, and a correspondent of state television asked them if they liked ballet, after which they announced that they were divorcing. Speaking about his marriage, Putin noted that “Lyudmila has come to an end.”

Putin spoke for his wife most of the time, and she just stood there, smiling awkwardly. Putin said he was busy because of work. She said they would never see each other again.

A year later, at his famous annual marathon press conference, Putin was asked if he would marry again. “For the first time, I will have to marry my ex-wife, only then I will think about myself,” he answered in his characteristic style of the Russian president.

“And he did it! In 2015, Lyudmila (57) married Artur Ocheretny (37), took his name and started a new life. As you may have guessed, my posts are not only about love stories. It is about crime, corruption and the incredible enrichment of these lovers, who must be urgently punished,” writes Maria Pevchych.

She recalls that the bride’s parents used to prepare a dowry: “something valuable like money, expensive fabrics or jewelry to ‘increase the value of the bride.’

The “dowry” that the Russian president is preparing for his ex-wife includes a historic palace in Moscow

But Putin used a completely new approach. He actually issued a dowry worth a million for his ex-wife, as the anti-corruption officer explains:

“This building in Moscow was built in 1774. It is about a 5-minute drive from the Kremlin and is quite famous. Leo Tolstoy’s grandfather owned it here, the writer often visited here, some scenes from “War and Peace” take place here.

The building was gifted to Lyudmila Putina by the state in 2005 after 4 years of lease. Lyudmila is the director of a semi-fake public organization specializing in interpersonal communication. They conduct pseudo-scientific trainings on finding inner goodness, interpreting dreams, etc.

Artur Ocheretny has been the head of the NGO since 2010. “But all this, of course, is a facade. The sole purpose of this NGO is to be the owner of Tolstoy’s historic house. Which was demolished, rebuilt and two more floors were added. Now it is an office center,” says the Russian journalist.

Russian state companies rent premises here, paying Lyudmila Putinia almost 3.5 million dollars every year. Her NGO also receives “donations”. Gazprombank, the bank through which Russia now demands payment for its energy exports to “unfriendly countries,” gave him almost two million dollars.

Another $1.3 million came from Oleksiy Mordasov, owner of Severstal, Russia’s largest steel producer. Pavcich notes that he is “a more special oligarch”, he is also responsible for sponsoring Alina Kabaeva, Vladimir Putin’s mistress.

The US imposed sanctions against Kabaeva in early August after the European Union added her to its sanctions list on June 3.

Mordasov is one of the owners of the National Media Group media trust, where Kabaeva heads the company’s board of directors, with an annual salary of $10 million.

Luxury villas in Europe that have escaped Western sanctions

Returning to Ludmila and Artur Ocheretny and their non-governmental organization, Pevchich says that in practice they received from the Russian state a “money-making factory”.

“The cost of this building and the land it is built on is over $150 million. You can easily make $3 million in annual rent without doing anything. Donations are also added to the amount,” she says.

And the ex-wife of the “greatest patriot of Russia” Vladimir Putin buys real estate in Europe with the money she earned. “For example, this villa in Biarritz, France, worth 5.3 million euros, is registered to Artur Orechetna,” says the Russian investigative journalist.

“Or this apartment in Davos, recently discovered by Swiss journalists. Oceretny purchased it in 2015 for $3.7 million. Its total area is 200 square meters, it has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a nice balcony,” reports Maria Pevchych.

Then she reveals that the ex-wife of Vladimir Putin and Ocheretni bought two apartments in a luxury apartment complex in Malaga. One has an area of ​​229 m², the other 405 m² with a terrace of 214 m². “Both were bought with a mortgage. As you can see, Putin’s family has no problems with banks in Europe,” says Pevchych.

She also says Putin’s ex-wife and her new partner have been seen frequently in France, with Arthur “obsessed” with Ironman triathlons across Europe. Pevchich then mentions that the war has gone into its sixth month and that Ludmila and Ocheretni did not fall under Western sanctions.

“Artur Ocheretny and Lyudmila Putina (who is now officially Lyudmila Ocheretna) have no money of their own. Everything they have was stolen for them by Vladimir Putin. Like a reverse Robin Hood, Putin robs the poor to give to the rich. We don’t need Putin’s money in Europe, do we? Well, this is Putin’s money,” says Maria Pevchych.

Maria Pevčić concludes her series of posts by calling on the governments of France, Switzerland and Spain to immediately include the Ocheretny family on their sanctions lists, freeze their assets and investigate the origin of their money.

At the end of April last year, the Russian authorities added the anti-corruption fund founded by Oleksiy Navalny to the list of extremist and terrorist groups.

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