It was in reaction to Russia’s attack on Ukraine that two couples made up of three Ukrainians and a Chechen decided to occupy this opulent villa located in the Mont Boron district of Nice, the hill with the neoclassical mansions of southeast of the city. Because the owner of the premises, a 57-year-old man, is Russian. They would have changed the locks and occupied his second home before being spotted by a neighbor, sent by the Muscovite to take a look, says 20 minutes Friday, May 13.
The latter surprised the four occupants, and warned the police who placed them in custody. The individuals explained their gesture as a reaction of opposition to the war. However, the mansion, like its owner, was not the subject of international sanctions taken against the Russian oligarchs since the start of the war, explains 20 Minutes after questioning a police source. The very pleasant mansion does not have a swimming pool or tennis court.
This is not the first time that the properties of Russian nationals, whether they are part of the internationally sanctioned Russian oligarchs or not, have been targeted. In March, a building belonging to the former son-in-law of Vladimir Poutine had been occupied by militants in Biarritz, who had also changed the locks. The men had justified their action by explaining that this mansion was in the hands of a man from the Putin clan, because its owner would be the former husband of Katerina Tikhonova (the daughter of Vladimir Putin) and the former economic adviser to the Kremlin. They wanted, according to information from Europe 1, “to welcome Ukrainian refugees to these villas”.
