Yikes. While I agree with the activists' sentiment in this Daily Beast story on random folks seizing property from Russia's super-rich, I lack their bravery. This feels like a fantastic way to accidentally slip and fall off the balcony you just stole. Putting your name to stealing from people who routinely have 'their enemies' murdered is a BAD IDEA.
Activists have grown restless waiting for the authorities to seize some of their assets and have taken the matter into their own hands in London and the south of France.
Pierre Afner, who has been documenting Russian riches in the French resort enclave of Biarritz for years, was arrested on Monday for breaking into the lavish seaside Alta Mira villa belonging to Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova. There he found documents including copies of Russian passports belonging to Tikhonova and her wealthy ex-husband Kirill Shamalov, son of Nikolai Shamalov, one of Putin's oldest and dearest friends—both sanctioned by the U.S. since 2018.
Afner also found a vast array of bizarre decorations, including fake songbirds in a gilded cage and rare art, in addition to books in Russian. He posted the treasure trove on his Facebook page just hours before police took him into custody Monday morning.
