Jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny's team releases new pictures they claim show a pole-dancing room inside 'the Russian President's £1billion Black Sea palace'
- Room had previously been pictured in computer images based on leaked plans
- The image allegedly confirms the room's existence in the Black Sea palace
- The Kremlin has denied that the palace is the president's private home
Alexei Navalny's team has released a picture they claim shows a pole-dancing room inside Vladimir Putin's alleged £1 billion Black Sea palace.
The room had previously been pictured in computer images based on leaked detailed plans of the property, released by the jailed opposition leader.
But now Navalny's team claim to have found thousands of actual photographs of the palace confirming a 'striptease' room known as a 'hookah' with a stage and performer's pole.
Alexei Navalny's team has released a picture they claim shows a pole-dancing room inside Vladimir Putin's alleged £1 billion Black Sea palace
The room had previously been pictured in computer images based on leaked detailed plans of the property, released by the jailed opposition leader
'The striptease hall, hookah, call it what you want, really exists,' says a commentary with a video about the pictures. 'And it looks much worse than we could imagine.'
A computer generated image showing how the Navalny team had imagined the pole-dancing boudoir was released a year ago, based on leaked plans which also included a casino and 'aqua disco'.
The photograph now shows what they claim is the striptease room in reality inside the palace when it was still under construction.
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'The stage is littered with pillows,' said the commentary.
A pulsating light appears above and behind where a dancer would perform.
'We don't even know how to describe it. A portal? A silhouette of a temple dome?'
Other images show Putin's alleged bedroom, a second bedroom and his office, and as well as a swimming pool, they claim.
Navalny's team claim to have found thousands of actual photographs of the palace (pictured) confirming a 'striptease' room known as a 'hookah' with a stage and performer's pole
Other images show Putin's alleged bedroom, a second bedroom and his office, and as well as a swimming pool, they claim
Pictured: A large room with grand ceilings is shown in pictures released by Navalny's team
The double-headed eagle symbol of Russia is found throughout the palace, appearing to give it an official seal.
Amid controversy over the palace stoked by Putin enemy Navalny, a year ago oligarch Arkady Rotenberg denied it belonged to the president and said he owned the sprawling clifftop property overlooking the Black Sea.
Billionaire Rotenberg is Putin's former judo sparring partner and perhaps closest friend from childhood.
At the time the tycoon explained: 'This is a stunning place. We would like to build an apart-hotel there, this is why it has so many rooms.'
He told the media without going into detail that he had managed to 'become a beneficiary' of the well-guarded property.
The high security palace reportedly includes a '16-storey underground complex' compared with the lair of a James Bond villain.
It was also described as 'a whole anthill in the rock under the house'.
This grab taken on January 25, 2021 of an handout video of the Alexey Navalny Youtube Channel shows an aerial view of a property, located along Russia's southern Black Sea, that Navalny claimes is owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Moscow Mayor at the Kremlin in Moscow, on January 20, 2022
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny looks at a camera while speaking from a prison via a video link, provided by the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, during a court session in Petushki, Vladimir region, about 75 miles east of Moscow, Russia, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022
An engineer-turned-whistleblower who reportedly worked on the construction - named only as Viktor - thought of the palace as a 'national treasure'
He suggested the underground passageways buried in the rock were more ingenious than Dr No's bunker.
The palace designs included on the eighth subterranean floor 'a balcony - literally a loggia hanging over the sea' built into the cliff, from which the owner can enjoy wine tasting from the palace stocks, he said.
It is, however, far from clear that Putin has ever lived in the palace and a year ago it appeared to be undergoing a reconstruction.
The Kremlin has denied that it is the president's private home.
Lawyer, anti-corruption campaigner and protest leader Navalny - seen as Putin's enemy number one - is in jail but is seen in the West as a political prisoner.
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