Putin ‘has four yachts, 58 planes and 20 palaces’

Vladimir Putin once compared ruling Russia to being a “galley slave”, but four yachts that come with the job, not to mention palaces, aircraft and a wealth of luxury perks help explain his refusal to quit the presidency, leading critics have said.

Listing 58 planes and helicopters and 20 homes with opulent fittings worthy of the tsars, not to mention 11 watches which alone are worth several times Putin’s annual salary, a report published under the ironic title The Life of a Galley Slave by the opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, denounced a “blatant and cynical challenge” to millions of Russians barely managing to survive.

The Kremlin, which has long portrayed the 59-year- old president as a man of simple tastes with a liking for popular sports and active outdoor pastimes, did not immediately comment.