A Russian businessman with links to Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he owns a huge palace which Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny said belonged to Putin.
Jailed Alexey and his anti-corruption foundation published a video alleging a palace in southern Russia is owned by the Russian President.
The opulent mansion is understood to be worth a whopping $1.35 billion (£980m) but Putin denied claims he owned the luxury property in 2018.
Now, a Russian businessman and Putin’s former judo sparring partner, Arkady Rotenberg has said he bought the palace two years ago.
In a video published by the MASH channel on Telegram, Mr Rotenberg said it will "no longer be a secret" and added that he is the "beneficiary".
He said: "Now it will no longer be a secret, I am the beneficiary.
"There was a rather complicated facility, there were a lot of creditors, and I managed to become the beneficiary."
Mr Rotenberg gave no further financial details of the purchase or how it had been funded.
Navalny's video has been viewed more than 103 million times on the platform, it has been reported, as tensions grow amid the opposition leaders detainment.
Authorities remanded Navalny in custody for 30 days on January 18 for alleged parole violations his team claim were made up.
He now faces years in jail and his supporters have held protest rallies across Russia in a release campaign.
The arrest comes after Navalny returned to Moscow from Germany, where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in August 2020.
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Vladimir Putin hits back at claims he owns £1bn palace complete with 'lap-dancing club'
During a flight from Tomsk to Moscow, he became violently ill and was taken to a hospital in Omsk after an emergency landing there, and put in a coma.
Navalny was later evacuated from Russia to the Charité hospital in Berlin, Germany, and the use of the Novichok nerve agent was later confirmed.
After his recovery, Navalny accused President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his poisoning.
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