The world was shocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War II. It also centred on one of the most powerful figures in international politics: Vladimir Putin.
He has been at the helm of Russian affairs for decades, and the West has always kept a close eye on him. But his decision to start a war in Ukraine, especially in the twenty-first century, surprised even some seasoned diplomats and policymakers.
Putin’s personality and history as a KGB officer have always piqued the world’s interest. We’ll look at his way of life in this section.
According to Fortune, the Kremlin has stated that Putin receives an annual salary of $140,000. According to the report, his publicly declared assets include an 800-square-foot apartment, a trailer, and three cars.
However, he is widely regarded as the world’s richest man. Putin’s personal wealth, according to investment and asset management firm Hermitage Capital Management, is $200 billion. The CEO of the company, Bill Browder, made the claim before the US Senate Judiciary Committee.
Browder was a major investor in Russia during the 1990s, so his comments about Putin and Russia are taken seriously.
Because of his extravagant lifestyle, claims about the Russian President’s ridiculous wealth continue to circulate. According to Fortune, Putin is seen wearing luxury watches such as a $60,000 Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar and a $500,000 A Lange & Sohne Toubograph.
ABC News reported ten years ago, based on a video released by the Russian opposition group Solidarity, that Putin owns luxury watches worth $700,000 – roughly six times his official salary.
Putin is also thought to own a swanky 190,000 square-foot mansion perched atop a cliff overlooking the Black Sea. According to the description of the property, it has frescoed ceilings, a marble swimming pool lined with statues of Greek gods, spas, an amphitheatre, a state-of-the-art ice hockey rink, a Vegas-style casino, and a nightclub. If that isn’t enough, the mansion also has a barroom with hundreds of dollars’ worth of wine and spirits.
Aside from the Black Sea mansion, the 69-year-old Russian President is said to own 19 other homes, 700 cars, and 58 planes and helicopters. One of these planes, dubbed “The Flying Kremlin,” cost $716 million and features a gold toilet.
The Guardian published an article on Tuesday that included a photo of a 140-metre-long, six-floor super yacht in Italy, which is also thought to be owned by Putin. The $700 million Scheherazade is docked in a shipyard in Marina di Carrara, a town on Italy’s Tuscan coast. According to the Guardian, the vessel has a spa, two swimming pools, two helipads, a wood-burning fireplace, and a pool table that tilts to reduce the impact of the waves.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Italy to seize the yacht in a speech to the Italian Parliament on Tuesday.
Despite enormous wealth, Putin not sanctioned by West
Western countries froze the assets of Russia’s elite, including those close to Putin, and imposed travel bans on them just days after the Ukraine invasion began. The Russian President, on the other hand, was spared.
According to The New York Times, this was done at the request of European countries such as Germany, who wanted communication channels with Russia’s top leadership to remain open.
