Russia has blocked the website that exposed President Vladimir Putin’s cleaner-turned-millionaire ‘mistress’ and her ‘£74m business empire’.
Proekt, which also published a series of exposes of the country’s super-wealthy elite, was blocked after it claimed, among other things, that Svetlana Krivonogikh, 46, was in a relationship with the then-married Kremlin leader before and after he first became president in 1999.
It also reported that Putin’s daughter Elizaveta or Luiza, now 18, was her father. This is his third child, after Katerina and Maria.
The news outlet, also known as Project in English, was previously designated by the Kremlin as a foreign agent’ or an ‘undesirable organization’ – the same labels used to Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Roman Badanin, founder of Proekt, has stopped his work in Russia, where he faces unrelated charges. He was also labeled a ‘foreign agent,’ due to the sites’s alleged US backing.
Russia’s media watchdog has blocked a Russian investigative news website following revelations about Vladimir Putin’s alleged ex-mistress and former love child.
Proekt published claims that Svetlana Krivonogikh (pictured), was in a relationship before and after he became president in 1999.
Proekt also claimed that her daughter Elizaveta, aka Luiza, now aged 18, was fathered in part by President Putin.
Proekt was stopped in Russia after it published an investigative piece (pictured), which included details about President Putin’s alleged mistresses and love child.
Roskomnadzor moved to ban the site at the request of the country’s prosecutor general.
Proekt, according to the Ministry of Justice, was considered a threat to constitutional order and security of Russian Federation.
The outlet’s investigative journalists had claimed Krivonogikh owned a business empire worth in excess of £74 million, including a yacht that has been seen under naval escort in St Petersburg.
The recent Pandora Papers leak also linked her to a £3.1 million luxury fourth-floor home, located in the Monte Carlo Star apartment block just below the famous casino, in Monaco.
The papers also revealed her total worth to be around $100million.
A series of photos posted to Instagram – one showing a firework display, one of a rainbow overlooking the ocean, and a third showing yachts in the harbour – also linked Krivonogikh and her daughter to the apartment.
Elizaveta, Elizaveta’s daughter, posted the photo of the yacht in 2014. She added a comment that read: “Beautiful!” I know this place!
Other assets she has include a yacht, as well as shares in some of Russia’s most-valuable state-owned businesses.
Krivonogikh, her daughter, and none of their other children have commented on the revelations which reveal the hidden financial dealings world leaders and their associates.
Svetlana Crivonogikh, 46, is believed to have been Putin’s mistress. Through a secretive offshore firm the Pandora Papers, she owns a $4million Monte Carlo apartment.
Photos posted to Krivonogikh’s social media further link her with Monaco, including this one of a firework display over the ultra-rich enclave
Krivonogikh also posted this photo of Monaco’s harbour from Monte Carlo. Her daughter, a rumored Putin lovechild, commented on it, saying “I know this spot!”
Luiza, a student, has become a social media celebrity with over 80,000 followers, her own fashion line and is in high demand as a DJ since being ‘outed’ by the opposition media last January.
She had been able to travel to Paris in recent months despite the Covid-19 restrictions.
She and her mother have not commented on the Proekt claims. However, Luiza told Russian GQ that she “probably” looks like a young Putin.
Putin’s spokesperson stated that the love child allegations were not convincing and were de facto unfounded when the story first broke. However, this has not stopped speculation.
Krivonogikh also shared another image on social media that showed a rainbow above an ocean view. She also tagged it as taken in Monaco.
Elizaveta is Krivonogikh’s daughter and is believed to be Putin’s lovechild. Her mother was suddenly rich after her birth in 2003.
Proekt’s close coincides with Badanin’s Washington Post article titled: ‘Why should we care about Putin’s love life’. Badanin is now a John S. Knight Senior international journalism Fellow at Stanford University.
He stated that Krivonogikh’s wealth was relevant to Putin’s personal life as well as the lives and deaths of the citizens of his country.
The Covid-19 crisis in Russia has reached new heights yet “our kleptocrats enabled and encouraged by Kremlin continue to enrich themselves even while regular people continue to die in underfunded state hospitals.”
According to him, while death rates rise, hospitals like St Petersburg’s Botkin State Clinic are crumbling because they lack renovation.
He wrote, “Even though public facilities like Botkin were crumbling, Putin’s friends, including his ex-mistress Krivonogikh, were busy building multimillion-dollar residential structures for themselves,”
He said that Bank Rossiya provided funding for these properties. She is also an owner of the bank.
Proekt’s closing coincides with a Washington Post article written by Roman Badanin (pictured), who is now a John S. Knight Senior Interjournal Fellow at Stanford University. The headline of the article was: ‘Why should we care about Putin’s love lives’