while Russia boys die for Nothing The Billionaire Czars party
Almost naked’ party staged by wealthy showbiz celebrities in Moscow including ‘Putin’s goddaughter’ sparks outrage among Vladimir’s propagandists for disrespecting soldiers fighting in Ukraine
- ‘Putin’s goddaughter’ Ksenia Sobchak, 40, was among those who attended party
- High society party is said to have been reported to prosecutors amid a backlash
By WILL STEWART
PUBLISHED: 13:54, 21 December 2023 | UPDATED: 14:22, 21 December 2023
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Russian war fanatics are enraged over an ‘almost naked’ party staged in Moscow by wealthy showbiz celebrities including Vladimir Putin‘s ‘goddaughter’.
The ‘debauched’ gathering was likened to Sodom and Gomorrah by critics claiming the antics of the wealthy stars insulted those on the frontline in the Kremlin’s illegal war against Ukraine.
Among the most visible guests was a pregnant and braless Ksenia Sobchak, 40, a TV presenter and ‘liberal’ Russian presidential candidate in 2018, in a nude-coloured Sorelle outfit.
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She is known as Putin’s goddaughter after he attended her baptism and viewed her late father Anatoly Sobchak as his political mentor.
The outpouring of fury had led to the high society party being reported to prosecutors who will now check it for illegality, according to reports.
Party with Putin’s goddaughter sparks outrage while soldiers fight in Ukraine
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Vladimir Putin’s goddaughter Ksenia Sobchak is pictured at the ‘Almost Naked’ party in Moscow yesterday
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The party sparked outrage among Vladimir’s propagandists for disrespecting soldiers fighting in Ukraine. Pictured: Nastya Ivleeva
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President Vladimir Putin meets Ksenia Sobchak at the Kremlin in 2020. She is known as Putin’s goddaughter after he attended her baptism
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Frothing TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov stormed: ‘How morally deaf do you have to be?
‘Our boys are now fighting at the front. To what extent should you understand nothing at all about the country, about Putin?
READ MORE: Putin is told to ‘go the front line yourself – and die’ by wives of mobilised Russian soldiers amid growing backlash over his Ukraine war
‘The Supreme Commander-in-Chief raises a glass to our Victory, and you b******s – who do you support?
‘You cannot even imagine how people hate and despise you.’
Rapper Vacio, 25, provoked outrage by wearing nothing but a Balenciaga sock on his manhood.
The party – dress code ‘almost naked’ – was arranged by fashionable blogger and socialite Nastya Ivleeva, 32, a TV presenter and actress.
She boasted that she wore £200,000 diamonds and emeralds on her ‘skinny’ backside.
‘Decided not to overdo the look with the accessories and that a diamond worth 23 million [roubles] on the bum would be enough.’
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Ksenia Sobchak (pictured), 40, a TV presenter and ‘liberal’ Russian presidential candidate in 2018, donned a nude-coloured Sorelle outfit
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The outpouring of fury had led to the high society party being reported to prosecutors who will now check it for illegality, according to reports
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The party – dress code ‘almost naked’ – was arranged by fashionable blogger and socialite Nastya Ivleeva (pictured), 32, a TV presenter and actress
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Pro-war Two majors Telegram channel told the wealthy and prominent participants: ‘You are just scum, you will burn in hell.’ Pictured: Ksenia Sobchak
With 18 million Instagram followers, she complained: ‘Every time after my parties they write that this is demonic, depraved, although people just came beautiful in half-naked outfits.
‘But we look at the West, at the appearances of beautiful, slender models and say: ‘Damn! They are so beautiful and cool!’
‘Our beautiful, fit artists come out, and everyone is like: ‘How is this possible?’
One censorious report stated: ‘While some of those present tried to cover their private parts, others were not particularly shy, limiting themselves to a minimum of clothing.’
Pro-war Two majors Telegram channel told the wealthy and prominent participants: ‘You are just scum, you will burn in hell.’
Such outlets have long raged over the way ‘beau monde” Moscow relentlessly parties while hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers – mostly from the impoverished provinces – are killed or maimed in a war triggered by dictator Putin, but this event appeared to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Public figure Yuri Podolyaka said: ‘Our soldiers at the front are clearly not fighting for this. Not for this Russia.’
Poet Anna Revyakina slammed the reprobate party staged during the war.
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Nastya Ivleev boasted that she wore £200,000 diamonds and emeralds on her ‘skinny’ backside
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Many complained that the party came as Putin has put the accent on Russia fighting for traditional values yet it showed degeneracy
‘This is a fashionable party from Nastya Iveleeva… it’s either Sodom or Gomorrah,’ she said.
‘Or both cities at the same time.
‘I just can’t believe that this is all really happening… It’s happening right now, right at this time.’
Many complained that it came as Putin has put the accent on Russia fighting for traditional values yet it showed degeneracy.
Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the leader of the so-called Male State, a Russian patriarchal and nationalistic group, wrote: ‘Nastya Ivleeva, who organised a naked satanic party in the capital’s Mutabor club, will be checked by the general prosecutor’s office.’
Conservative organisation Zov Naroda – the ‘calling of the people’ – sent an appeal to the head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, Prosecutor-General Krasnov and Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev demanding a check for extremism, drug propaganda and other ‘disgusting moments from the depraved party’.
Police are investigating male kisses, projections of naked women on the ceiling, and a man mimicking oral sex with rapper Vacio, said reports.
Ekaterina Mizulina, member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, said: ‘Our soldiers at the front are definitely not fighting for this.
‘And I am absolutely sure of this, having recently talked with wounded soldiers.
‘Such parties are a shot in the foot of the entire policy pursued by the state.’
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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Russian politics myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Vladimir Putin’s re-election campaign has prompted a fresh drive by Russian officials to curb inflation as disquiet grows over soaring prices for consumer goods and as technocrats move to rein in a weakening rouble. The Kremlin is increasingly resorting to ad hoc measures aimed at lessening the burden on ordinary Russians, with Putin trumpeting a return to growth nearly two years after his full-scale invasion of Ukraine prompted Russia’s biggest economic crisis in decades. Ahead of the president’s expected landslide victory in March, Russia’s inflation-fighting toolkit has included everything from hawkish central bank policy and a pause on exits from the country by western companies to what the Kremlin called “energetic measures” to lower the cost of eggs. Pressures on consumers were a central feature of Putin’s telethon last Thursday, the first time he had held his usually annual press conference or phone-in since ordering the invasion in 2022 — and, since “eggs” are slang for testicles in Russian, he could not pass up an opportunity for a crude joke. “I asked the minister of agriculture how his eggs are. He said they were fine. And I replied: ‘Well, our citizens have some problems,’” Putin said, to audible gasps in the studio. Fielding several complaints on the issue live on air, he apologised for the price of eggs and blamed the government, which he said had “not approved imports in time”. Within hours, Russia’s agriculture ministry announced it would abolish import taxes on eggs and step up bringing stocks in from “friendly” countries that have not joined western sanctions imposed over the war. By Monday, the Kremlin was saying Putin’s telethon had had an “accelerating effect” on bringing down egg prices, which are up 43 per cent this year. Central bank data showed egg prices had risen faster in the week to December 18 than a week earlier, however, increasing by more than 4.6 per cent. “It is obvious that the authorities have tried to paint a picture of growth and prosperity ahead of Putin’s renomination for the upcoming elections,” said Alexandra Prokopenko, a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin. Record spending on defence and rising prices on energy exports are fuelling GDP growth, which Putin crowed would reach 3.5 per cent this year after a contraction of 2.1 per cent last year. A billboard at a bus stop in St Petersburg promoting next year’s Russian presidential election © Dmitri Lovetsky/AP But Russia’s economy is continuing to overheat as a reliance on imports and restricted access to global markets drive inflation. As it raised its key interest rate to 16 per cent last week — a higher rate even than in Ukraine — the central bank named western sanctions as a key factor driving inflation that now stands at 7.5 per cent in annual terms. “External trade and financial constraints . . . complicate logistical chains and financial settlements and weaken demand for Russian exports,” it said. That has fuelled inflation via the exchange rate: fewer exports mean Russia receives less foreign currency to pay for imports used in food production and other industries. Putin’s Ukraine campaign has also led to labour shortages as Russia’s army and its weapons factories suck in workers, creating a supply-side bottleneck that is seeing domestic demand outpace Russia’s capacity to produce goods and services. That means that Russia’s technocrats are fighting a losing battle, said Prokopenko. “This is the ABC: targeted measures work here and now, but they do not help against inflation and have negative effects in the long term. Any restriction of supply distorts market mechanisms and signals,” she added. Russia has been scrambling to find ways to tame spiralling inflation since the summer, when the rouble briefly weakened below the psychologically important barrier of Rbs100 to the dollar, and prices soared for essentials such as petrol and durum wheat. A 2024 calendar with a portrait of Vladimir Putin on its cover on sale at a newsstand in Moscow © Getty Images A sharp rise in rates and export bans on some goods failed to stop the trend, prompting Putin to introduce limited capital controls in October. The effect of capital outflows on the rouble was so strong that Russia quietly paused approvals for western companies looking to leave the country this autumn, said people briefed on the situation. A string of western companies have sought to offload their Russian arms since the country’s invasion of Ukraine last year and amid the subsequent sanctions imposed by the US and EU. But in October, the government subcommittee responsible for allowing such owners to sell Russian businesses and transfer the funds abroad stopped issuing exit permits, four people involved in past and ongoing deals told the FT. The suspension took place at the request of the central bank, said a person involved in the recent exits. It was restored after a month and a half, the people said. Russia’s finance ministry and central bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Alan Kartashkin, partner at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, said he was not “aware of any exit approvals issued by the government commission during the informal suspension between the middle of October and end of November”. Approvals restarted in December, with companies including Japanese multinational tyre manufacturer Bridgestone and brewer AB InBev announcing exits this week. But the pace of approvals had slowed throughout 2023, said people involved in the exits. The Kyiv School of Economics said 12 foreign companies had left in October and seven in November compared with an average of 14.2 per month earlier in 2023. A comparatively shallow domestic market in rouble trading means relatively small interventions can cause notable currency moves, said Sofia Donets, a former central bank official and chief economist at Renaissance Capital. In August, International Paper sold its stake in the Russian Ilim Group to its local partners for $484mn, equivalent to about a half of total foreign exchange trading volume on the Moscow stock exchange per day that month. The rouble is still down 25 per cent against the dollar in 2023 but has risen to about Rbs90 in recent weeks. However, on Monday, the central bank said inflation expectations for 2024 had soared to 14.2 per cent, their highest level since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Several industry bodies, including those covering the packaging and household goods sectors, said that prices had risen in double digits from just a month earlier, while artificial Christmas trees are 11.5 per cent more expensive than last year. Perceived inflation in Russia is higher than the official figure. Households reported inflation of up to 17 per cent — the highest level since October last year — when asked as part of central bank surveys, despite actual inflation being much lower. The election next year is expected to be a heavily stage-managed event with no real competition for Putin, who is set to extend his rule of 24 years until at least 2030. But continued price pressures are likely to force his officials to find more unorthodox ways to tame inflation and keep a lid on public resentment, said Konstantin Sonin, economist at the University of Chicago. “Inflation is the most common cause for citizens’ discontent, hence the increased attention to these measures,” he said.
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