Putin denies owning 1bn Black Sea palace after Navalny exposé

Vladimir Putin has denied he owns a palace, in his first comments since nemesis Alexei Navalny linked him to an opulent £1bn development on the Black Sea coast.

Mr Putin said he had “not had the time” to view the much-discussed investigation, released on 19 January shortly after the Putin critic was jailed. Nonetheless, the president asserted extracts he had seen represented an “attempt to brainwash” Russians using “10-year-old rumours”.

“They decided it was a good time to put things together and brainwash our citizens,” he said. “This is just a compilation, a cut and paste job.”

In an altogether complicated repudiation, Mr Putin said neither he nor close relatives had “ever” owned the property.