Inside glitzy car collections of Putin’s pampered lackeys from vintage Rolls Royce to Porsche 911 made in hated West

5 months ago 4

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VLADIMIR Putin’s pampered lackeys are apparently exempt from his crackdown on flashy cars, driving all sorts of vintage Western motors.

The glitzy collections of Putin’s minions were uncovered by Ukrainian hackers who cracked a database of Russian drivers and their motors.

Russian TV show host Vladimir Solovyov reportedly owns a fleet of cars[/caption]

Dmitry Kiselyov and his eighth and current wife Maria[/caption]

The hackers managed to break into a database of the Russian Union of Auto Insurers which contained billions of records, including drivers’ names, licence information, and the make and model of their cars.

The Kremlin’s main propagandists were revealed to own some wildly expensive vehicles, from a vintage Rolls Royce to a £150,000 1960 Porsche 911, despite the president expressly hating flashy motors.

Putin last year called on officials to start using domestic-made cars rather than foreign-made vehicles to get from A to B.

He said: “[Government] ministries, departments and agencies have asked to continue purchasing… foreign-made cars. It’s out of the question.”

The president noted officials would have to get used to cars that are “more modest”.

Earlier, Putin’s cops carried out a crackdown on drivers flaunting their foreign vehicles on the streets of Moscow, detaining many of their “rich and successful” owners at a rally of Western cars in the capital.

Russia‘s government has reportedly continued to buy cars from the hated West, purchasing 151 foreign-made cars – worth £4.6million – in August 2023 alone, according to Russian media.

Vladimir Solovyov, who hosts a TV show where he speaks at length about Putin’s accomplishments, owns a 1960 Rolls Royce Silver Spur worth about £150,000, according to the leaked docs.

His fleet also reportedly includes a 2005 Porsche 911, a 1996 BMW Z3, a 2007 Jeep Wrangler, and a 2006 Mercedes Benz R-Class.

The Ukrainian hackers, a team at KibOrg, wrote: “It is interesting that already during the full-scale war with Ukraine and after the introduction of international sanctions against the propagandist, Solovyov bought at least three more cars – two Mercedes-Benz V-Klasse minibuses and a Toyota Granvia.”

Solovyov has been vocal about his support of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, declaring on the day: “Today is the day that a righteous operation was launched for the de-Nazification in Ukraine.”

War-hungry Dmitry Kiselyov, who was appointed by Putin to head Russian state-controlled media group Rossiya Segodnya, owns several vehicles, according to the hackers, including a 2012 Ducati Hypermotard 796 valued at £5,300 and a 2004 BMW F650GS.

The propagandist was also said to own a pair of 2002 Land Rovers, while his eighth and current wife Maria drove a 2016 Range Rover Evoque worth £46,000 which he “has a licence to use”.

Kiselyov has previously made threats of World War Three and warned in 2022 that Russia could down Brits in a “radioactive tidal wave”.

Maksym Sokolov, an economist and politician who served as transport minister from 2012 to 2018, and now the president of Russia’s top carmaker Avtovaz, would appear to favour German car brands.

While he does not own any cars himself, the documents state he has “many permits for use”, and his son Maxim owns three: a Mercedes-Benz V-Class, a 2019 BMW Z4 convertible, and a 2020 BMW 840.

Prices for a 2019 BMW Z4 roadster start at about £37,000, according to AutoExpress.

Dmitry Pronin, the director of the Moskvich, formerly Renault Russia, owns a Mercedes-Benz E-Class – but reportedly also drives his wife’s £40,000 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class.

Putin’s millionaire deputy defence minister Timur Ivanov is said to own two Rolls Royce cars with his wife Svetlana, who has been described as a “shopaholic” capable of blowing millions in a spree.

A picture showed Svetlana behind the wheel of one of their Rolls Royce cars, valued at about £115,000.

Ivanov was arrested in April this year and accused of accepting bribes “on a particularly large scale”.

He is known to live lavishly in a huge mansion, and regularly takes month-long holidays with his wife at a sprawling villa in France.

The couple once paid £150,000 to rent the villa for a month, as well as £82,000 to hire a yacht, according to documents obtained by Russia’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.

The leak comes after it was revealed earlier this year that Putin’s cronies were being provided luxury cars by criminal gangs in the UK.

The gangs were understood to be stealing vehicles from Britain and sending them over to Russia for the dictator’s right-hand men.

Police acting on a tip discovered Bentley, Audi, and Toyota cars worth £250,000 squashed into a container with a £300,000 Rolls Royce Dawn nestled among the remains of 13 other chopped-up cars.

Lavish life of Putin's shamed war boss

INVESTIGATORS claim Ivanov has made millions over the years through corrupt deals to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Ivanov and his glamorous shopaholic ex-wife Svetlana own a huge mansion along with two Rolls Royces.

Russia’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) allege she laundered “bloody money” that her husband earned from the Ukraine war.

According to the ACF, in 2020 Svetlana alone once spent about £1.1 million despite the couple have a joint official income of £260,000.

The couple regularly took month-long holidays at a sprawling villa in the south of France where they used a Rolls-Royce Corniche as their run around – one of two they own.

They once spent £150,000 a month renting a villa there and also £82,000 hiring a yacht, according to documents obtained by the ACF.

A birthday bash she once held in Istanbul cost £157,000 alone.

It has also been alleged the Ivanovs own several elite estates in Russia “worth hundreds of millions of rubles” and “spend hundreds of millions more on their repairs”.

Among the properties they own is an enormous mansion by the banks of the Volga river.

The couple married in 2010 and were serenaded by German band Modern Talking, who were paid £62,000 for their appearance.

They were regularly pictured at parties alongside Russia’s elite, quaffing champagne.

Spending also included £75,000 on 19th century furniture, £21,000 on gold statues, £7,500 on a gold clock and £6,200 on glass birds as well as £107,400 on antiques and £11,000 on bathroom accessories.

The pair are thought to be separated currently.