Putin's 'Luxurious Life' Set Out By Activists

PUTIN RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

At least 20 opulent homes, 58 official aircraft and four yachts may number among the reasons Vladimir Putin refuses to quit as Russia's president, opposition activists have suggested.
In a report published under the ironic title Life Of A Galley Slave, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov detailed how Mr Putin has allegedly expanded the trappings of office since he rose to power in 2000.
Among the extravagancies highlighted are a £48,000 toilet on a presidential jet, 11 luxury watches with a total value of about £440,000 and one yacht that is fitted with a "jacuzzi, barbecue, a maple wood colonnade and a huge bathroom faced in marble".
A huge house on Lake Valdai in northwestern Russia has a cinema, a bowling alley and a "presidential church", the report said. Nine new official residences have been made available to the president since 2000.
Mr Nemtsov, a deputy prime minister in the 1990s, and co-author Leonid Martynyuk wrote: "In a country where more than 20 million people barely make ends meet, the luxurious life of the president is a blatant and cynical challenge to society.
"We absolutely cannot put up with this."
The Kremlin has long portrayed the 59-year-old president, who returned to the post in May after four years as prime minister, as a man of simple tastes and a liking for popular sports and active outdoor pastimes.
But he has repeatedly been forced to deny rumours that he has built up a vast personal fortune, despite declaring a salary that is just a quarter of that of his US counterpart.
Mr Nemtsov is among the leaders of the opposition that have staged a series of protests since parliamentary elections won by Mr Putin's United Russia party were marred by fraud allegations.
Anger at the president has brought the disparate elements of the opposition together, pushing down Mr Putin's popularity.
The report was released as the wife of another prominent opposition activist was reportedly jailed for eight years on drugs charges - twice as long as was recommended by the prosecutors.
Taisiya Osipova and her supporters have maintained that police planted 4g of heroin in her home in 2010 after she refused to testify against her husband, Sergei Fomchenkov of The Other Russia movement.
Eduard Limonov, the leader of The Other Russia party, told Interfax that "this verdict is not only a political one, it's also a terrifying revenge".
Mrs Osipova was one of the most prominent names on a list of people activists described as political prisoners that was submitted to then-president Dmitry Medvedev in February.
Meanwhile, a group of Russian Orthodox Church activists burst into a theatre during a play about the Pussy Riot punk band, three members of which were recently jailed after performing an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
The show - named Khamovnichesky Court: The Sequel after the venue of the trial - by a Moscow theatre with a history of criticising the authorities was interrupted by people shouting "repent and "why do you hate Russians".
"We want to know why you are supporting this protest. Why are you so negative to the Orthodox faith?" one heckler, who gave his name as Andrei Kaplin, demanded to boos and shouts from the audience.
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