Maria Pevchikh Profile picture
Head of Investigations Chairwoman of the Board ANTI-CORRUPTION FOUNDATION https://t.co/kmT6yy1eX4

Aug 8, 2022, 24 tweets

I’ve got a love 💕 story for you. From inside the Putin family. Look at this young and athletic gentleman. Could he be Putin's son-in-law or cousin? Since the age of 33, he’s been splashing millions of € on the beautiful properties all over Europe. Who is he though? THREAD.

Villas and flats in France,Switzerland &Spain. What a beautiful portfolio for someone who isn’t a businessman,or a son of an oligarch,who doesn’t even have a real job. So what’s the secret of his success? Simple:he married Putin’s ex-wife,20 years his senior. Meet Artur Ocheretny

Lyudmila and Vladimir Putin divorced in 2013. By that time their marriage had been a complete sham for over a decade. Ludmila never was a real First Lady. We barely saw her in public and never heard her speak. She would be used once a year as a living prop at church services.

As you know, Putin has always promoted “family values” and “spiritual bonds” - and to do that, you kind of need a wife. But being full of shit as he always is, our president has been having numerous affairs, fathering at least one secret daughter born in 2003.

So the divorce came as no surprise.The announcement was done weirdly though. One of the most uncomfortable videos I've ever seen. Journalists “caught” the Putins at a theatre foyer. A state TV correspondent asked them if they liked the ballet and then they said they are divorcing

When speaking about their marriage Putin mentioned that “Lyudmila’s watch had come to an end”. He was speaking on her behalf most of the time and she was just standing there smiling uncomfortably. Putin said he is so busy with work. She said they never see each other anyway.

One year later, at an annual press conference Putin was asked whether he is going to marry again. He answered that in his typical cringeworthy and weird way: “I first need to marry off my ex-wife, and only then I'll think about myself”.

And he did! In 2015 Lyudmila (57) married Artur Ocheretny (37), took his name and started a new life. As you may have guessed, my thread isn't just a love story. It’s a story of crime, corruption, and the crazy enrichment of these sweethearts, who urgently need to be sanctioned.

In the old times it was common for a bride’s parents to arrange a dowry: something valuable, like money, expensive fabrics or jewellery to ‘increase the bride’s value'. But Putin took a whole new approach. He literally arranged a multi million dollar dowry for his ex wife.

This building in Moscow was built in 1774. It’s located about 5 mins away from the Kremlin and is quite famous. Leo Tolstoy’s grandfather used to own it, the writer visited it quite often, and some scenes from War and Peace take place there.

So that building was GIFTED to Lyudmila Putina by the state in 2005 after 4 years of lease. Ludmila is a patron of a semi-fake NGO that specialises in interpersonal communications. They do pseudoscientific trainings about finding an inner goddess, interpretation of dreams, etc.

Artur Ocheretny has been the director of this NGO since 2010. But that’s all a cover up of course. The only purpose of this NGO is to be the owner of this historic Tolstoy’s building. Which they demolished, rebuilt, and added two extra stories. Now it's an office centre.

State-owned companies rent those premises paying Lyudmila Putina almost $3.5M per year in rent. Her NGO also receives “donations”. Gazprombank has gifted her almost $2M. Another $1.3M came from Alexei Mordashov, the owner of Severstal.

I should probably mention that Mordashov is a special kind of oligarch. He is also responsible for sponsoring Putin’s gymnast mistress Alina Kabaeva. Mordashov is one of the owners of National Media Group, where Kabaeva is the chairwoman of the board. O tempora, o mores!

So essentially Lyudmila and her NGO, where Artur Ocheretny is the director by the way, were given a money making factory. The value of this building and the land it is over $150M. You can easily make $3M in rent per year by doing nothing. Oh, and add the donations on top of that.

And what does the ex-wife of Russia’s biggest patriot do with her money? She buys properties in Europe. Like this villa near Biarritz, France, which is worth €5.3M and is registered in the name of Artur Ocheretny.

Or this flat in Davos, recently discovered by the Swiss journalists. Ocheretny purchased it in 2015 for $3.7M. Its total area is 200m2, it has three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a beautiful balcony. Check out the view.

They also bought TWO flats in a luxury compound in Malaga, Spain. One is 229 m2, and the other is 405 m2 with a 214 m2 terrace. Total value €2.2M. Both were purchased with a mortgage — as you can see, Putin’s family has no problems with banking in Europe.

Both Artur and Lyudmila are avid travellers. They were frequently seen in France, and Artur is obsessed with the Ironman triathlons held all across Europe. It’s the 166th day of the war, and they still aren’t sanctioned.

Artur Ocheretny and Lyudmila Putina (who is now officially Lyudmila Ocheretnaya) have no money of their own. Everything they own has been stolen for them by Vladimir Putin. Like a reverse Robin Hood, Putin robs the poor to give to the rich.

We don’t want Putin’s money in Europe, right? Well, this is pure Putin’s money. So get rid of it. Here are the addresses and the ownership structure. You won’t need anything else but some political will.

We urge the governments of France, Switzerland and Spain to include the Ochertny family into their sanctions lists immediately, freeze the properties that they own and investigate the origin of their funds.

Last week we published a 45 min long film about Lyudmila Putina and Artur Ocheretny. It has English subtitles as well as many other details about their new life. It got over 4.5 million views in just 4 days.

Please support the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Your donations will be spent on investigating Putin’s corruption. On videos that millions of Russians will see, which certainly won’t make Putin happy. Surely, this is quite a good investment.
acf.international/#donate

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling