VLADIMIR Putin has been accused of secretly seizing a £100 million ultra-luxury clifftop palace in occupied Crimea.
The palace is complete with a private hospital operating theatre, cryochamber and gold-plated bathroom fittings.
The sprawling estate, hidden at Cape Aya on the Southern tip of the Black peninsula, was originally built for ousted Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych, but investigators say it has since been transformed into “a huge palace” for the Russian dictator.
The explosive claims come from an investigation by the team of murdered Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who say the property is another glaring symbol of Putin’s unchecked power and corruption.
The main house alone spans 96,875 square feet, with a second cliffside building of nearly 53,820 square feet concealed beneath landscaped gardens.
The compound boasts a private promenade, pier and artificial white-sand beach, while a new helipad sits higher up the slope.
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Investigators say the interiors are lavish even by Putin’s standards at his other palaces, including Valdai – which he claims Ukrainian drones tried to attack this week – and Gelendzhik, a vast Black Sea clifftop residence likened to a James Bond villain’s lair.
The Navalny team, the Kremlin’s critics said: “The sheer excess of luxury starts to make one feel slightly nauseous.”
Inside are two “royal bedrooms” in separate wings. Putin’s main bedroom measures 2,600 square feet, with a 538 sq ft bathroom, while the “boudoir” is described as “about the size of three standard two-room flats.”
Navalny’s reports continued: “Using a golden ladder and holding a golden handrail, one can climb into a golden jacuzzi and, in a relaxed state, watch [Putin-controlled state TV’s] Channel One.”
Bathroom fittings shaped like flowers cost nearly 3 million roubles (£28,330).
“For that amount you could buy a studio flat, for example in [Russian resort] Sochi.” said the anti-corruption team.
Yet investigators say the taps, toilet-paper holders and robe hooks alone cost £104,000 in each main bathroom.
The palace also includes a woman’s bedroom believed to be for Putin’s long-time lover Alina Kabaeva, 42, bedrooms for their two sons aged ten and six, and an adjutant’s room for a Federal Protective Service aide.
One entire floor is taken up by a private hospital, again fuelling questions about the 73-year-old dictator’s health.
It includes a GP’s consulting room, ENT office, dental surgery and a full-scale operating theatre, fitted with state-of-the-art German and Finnish medical equipment.
Among the kit are an ultrasound machine costing 2 million roubles (£17,400), diagnostic and physiotherapy equipment, an electrocardiograph and massage tables.
Researchers also noted neuromuscular stimulation devices and equipment analysing chewing muscles and jaw movement.
The anti-corruption investigators said: “Further along the corridor you can reach the operating theatre.
“There is an operating table there costing 4 million roubles (£34,800), alongside a ventilator, a defibrillator, an anaesthesia machine, and equipment for monitoring the patient’s condition.”
The palace is often fitted with UV air sterilisers, contrast plunge pools – and what investigators call the ultimate giveaway.
“The queen of Putin’s residences and yachts, his eternal companion and the big red flag pointing to the owner of this luxurious palace: the cryochamber.
“Here Putin rejuvenates at –110°C,” said anti-corruption campaigner Maria Pevchikh,” said the opposition linked researchers.
The report adds: “In our experience, there is only one person who adores these devices and insistently installs them in residential spaces: Vladimir Putin.”
In the basement is an entertainment zone, including “an intimate cinema for eight people.”
Financial records show the palace was funded through the same shadowy network used to bankroll Putin’s Gelendzhik estate.
The report also says: “Both palaces were paid for in exactly the same way, from the same wallets, at roughly the same time.”
The total cost is estimated at 10 billion roubles – almost £100 million.
“And those 10 billion are a bribe to President Putin,” say the Kremlin sleuths.
Ownership is hidden behind a web of companies linked to oligarch cronies enriched during Putin’s rule.
After being seized from Yanukovych – now living in exile in Russia – the site was meant to become a sanatorium, but instead fell into Putin’s hands.
Navalny’s investigators conclude the Cape Aya palace is yet another monument to excess, asking: “Why does Putin need yet another palace? How many palaces does one man need?”
Putin and his friends “have stolen so much in a quarter of a century that it can no longer be spent”.