1/22 This is Svetlana Maniovich. She is your guide to the world of extreme Russian glamour. She radiates richness. Diamonds, furs, Rolls Royces - she has it all and more. In summer you can find her in St Tropez where she rents a villa for €150k/month, or on a yacht in Naples🧵
2/22 She loves shopping. Sadly, Moscow doesn’t satisfy her fashion needs, so she has to travel to Paris. She gets personal appointments at one of the most expensive and discrete fine jewellery stores. This is where she gets €150K earrings and €104K rings made for her.
3/22 Isn’t it lovely? Well, not quite. Svetlana Maniovich is the wife of the Russian Deputy Minister of Defence. The person responsible for invading Ukraine and killing thousands of innocent people. His name is Timur Ivanov. And yes, that’s actually them together. Quite a lad.
4/22 Ivanov is the head of construction for the MoD. His job is to build everything from army barracks to this seriously weird military church dearly beloved by Putin. Now he’s responsible for ‘rebuilding’ Mariupol, the city Putin has wiped off the face of the earth and occupied.
5/22 And now have a look at this video please. It's our Svetlana Maniovich (aka Ivanova) partying in Courchevel 3 weeks ago.13 months into the war. She is in the heart of Europe, wearing her diamonds and furs. How did the wife of a war criminal sneak into France? Let me tell you.
6/22 There wasn’t much sneaking involved. As insane as it sounds, she is totally allowed to come to the EU and walk up and down the Champs-Élysées spending the money her husband made by bombing apartment blocks, killing children and beheading soldiers in Ukraine.
7/22 She doesn’t have any other money. She is a woman of leisure and requires sponsorship. Her ex-husband who she left for Ivanov warned him that he won’t be able to afford her. 'Svetlana demands at least $50k a month’. How do I know this? The divorce was covered by Tatler. Fun!
8/22 But despite being a government official Ivanov managed to scrape together a few pennies to make his wife happy. Svetlana can have all the budget she wants for the things she loves. Like this Dolce&Gabbana dress for €59,500, or this set of XIX century furniture for €85,000.
9/22 They have enough cash to even buy a ‘holiday Rolls-Royce’. They have one in Moscow, but since they spend so much time at the French Riviera, they bought another one there too. It’s a retro Rolls-Royce Corniche. It just sits in a garage and waits for them all year round.
10/22 Where does the money come from? Corruption. Ivanov receives kickbacks from whoever he assigns MoD construction contracts to. Some of you may have seen these pictures from Mariupol. These are the few ‘display’ houses built for propaganda purposes. Putin visited them too.
11/22 In our recent investigation we found out that the construction company that built this compound in Mariupol pays bribes to Timur Ivanov. They are actually also building his own dacha. Does your Deputy Minister of Defence have a house like this? Why not?
12/22 Anyways. You would think that the war has prevented this family of crooks and war criminals from spending their time in Europe. But it hasn’t.
13/22 On March 17, 2022, the day Putin's army ravaged Mariupol, Svetlana went, by invitation, to Joel Arthur Rosenthal's jewellery store in Paris to pick up some diamonds. On March 23, the day Kyiv got shelled at night, Svetlana took a Eurostar trip to visit her son in London.
14/22 Her life in Europe wasn’t hindered by the war her husband started. This was made possible by two simple tricks. 1) Svetlana illegally obtained an Israeli passport (there is a court ruling) 2) She has preemptively divorced Ivanov in August 2022, 5 months into the war.
15/22 So the sanctions don't affect her. She can keep her bank accounts, her assets and her shopping holidays. Despite the fact that every euro she spends at Hermes and Cartier in Paris is a blood soaked euro. She can even keep the Parisian apartment she rents for her family.
16/22 See? No false identities. No sneaking through the border. The family of a war criminal is living in Paris as if nothing happened. Have I broken some major news with this thread? No. Our investigation has been out for 2 months. We have filed numerous complaints and reports.
17/22 And we have never heard back from the French authorities. Nothing from the EU either. Are they all ok with it? Cause I’m really not. So why don’t we all work together to fix this? If you live in France, please write to your MPs, to your local media, and share this thread.
18/22 We at the Anti-Corruption Foundation are willing to resubmit piles of documents and proofs. I am willing to speak, meet or testify in court - whatever is needed to get the legal process going.
19/22 We also ask all of our supporters in Paris to come and protest near Maniovich's property, demanding to sanction their family, freeze their assets and kick them out of Europe.
This Sunday, April 23
14:00, 51 Rue de Babylone Paris
This Sunday, April 23
14:00, 51 Rue de Babylone Paris
20/22 We already did it once in London with Lavrov’s stepdaughter, who was sanctioned by the UK after a similar thread of mine and thanks to your vast support. We can do it again. This is about justice that we all need right now.
21/22 You can find a much more detailed version of this story in our video. It has got English, French and German subtitles. youtu.be
22/22 Over the past 12 years, we've published hundreds of stories like this one. And we’re going to publish more. If you like our work, please donate to our cause. Your money will be spent towards putting an end to Putin’s crimes. It's a good investment. #donate" target="_blank" rel="noopener" onclick="event.stopPropagation()">acf.international
Loading suggestions...