Russian authorities to auction Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska's Crimea apartment

In the occupied Crimea, Russia is trying to sell off the property owned by Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska. Russian-installed authorities in 2014 annexed Crimea have put an apartment that belongs to Zelenska for auction. The cost of an apartment in the resort city of Yalta in Crimea was estimated to be 23.9 million rubles ($247,600), according to reports.

Russian-installed authorities are planning to sell off the real estate "belonging to foreigners who committed unfriendly actions towards Russia" as well, Russian-installed governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, was reported as saying by RFE/RL. The funds that will be obtained from the sales of "Ukrainian businessmen’s properties" would be used to finance Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. 

Speaker of the Russian parliament of Crimea, Vladimir Konstantinov, was quoted as saying that "in addition, we agreed on the alienation of a number of objects, including residential premises, including Elena Zelenskaya’s apartment, its market value is approximately 23,900,000 rubles, objects of the sanatorium and resort industry, retail and commercial premises." He continued that Russian authorities "will offer the new owner to organise a museum of the fight against Nazism in the apartment of First Lady of Ukraine. In the upcoming weeks, the property of the Novacenter construction hypermarkets estimated to be 350 million rubles, will also be sold in auction. 

Putin's ex-wife sells luxury apartments in Europe amid war

Lyudmila Putina, Russia's President's ex-wife, put out for auction her villas fearing that they would fall under the EU sanctions. She sold off at least two apartments in the luxury residential complex Lomas del Rey of Marbella in southern Spain, according to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Another prominent Spain-based publication Español reported that Ocheretnaya bought the luxury apartments in 'Golden Mile' in 2011 and in 2014, shortly before she tied the knot with Ocheretny. Her 229 and 405 square meters apartments are the "most expensive" properties in all of the Mediterranean.

Navalny's anti-corruption foundation FBK argued that "the value of the real estate acquired by the Ocherentykhs far exceeds the family's legal income" and that the investments' origin is "unclear." A separate investigative report published by the American newspaper Politico stated that Putin's ex-wife and her husband "is not on the European Union’s sanctions list, but that could quickly change; after all, London has already put Ocheretnaya and her adult children [from her marriage to Putin - Ed.] under sanctions. If Brussels followed suit, it could put the apartment and the rest of their European portfolio suddenly out of reach."