But these spurts of employment could hardly fund the expensive cars and properties in his name, Navalny suggests, or the glamorous lifestyle — documented on social media — that routinely featured sailing yachts or private plane trips.
The Instagram account Navalny referred to described Choles as “an amateur horse jumper.” Choles did not respond to a Moscow Times request for comment. However, speaking to the RBC outlet he called Navalny’s report “a provocation.”
“This is just a nightmare,” he was cited as saying. “How else could you consider this? It’s horrible.”
Navalny said it was “an example of how, in Russia, where 20 million people live beneath the poverty line and 70 percent can only dream of a salary of 45,000 rubles, it is possible to have a wonderful life. At the highest level. Without doing anything.”
