A French villa and favourite spot of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughter has had Ukrainian flags painted all over it.
Katerina Tikhonova’s luxury Villa is located in Biarritz, in the sunny south of France, and boasts eight bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The property is actually currently owned by Kirill Shamalov, Tikhonova’s ex-husband.
The image of the villa’s front gate having been vandalised was posted on Reddit to the r/ukraine thread where internet users have been sharing updates about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The image shows 10 blue and yellow Ukrainian flags painted across a locked entrance, with the luxury Villa’s tall spire visible in the background.
Tikhonova, 35, who is Putin’s second daughter, is thought to be a billionaire, so she could quite easily cover the cleaning up bill.
Still, that didn’t stop Reddit users ridiculing her and sharing praise for the vandal’s work.
One person commented “Villa Special Operation”, in mocking reference to Putin describing his murderous invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation”.
“She shouldn’t get to live luxuriously while her father murders people,” a second person said.
“They are pretty colours. It’s an upgrade,” joked a third.
A fourth said: “Neatly composed tidy flags and tight grouping showing good discipline. Pleasing overall composition and arrangement. A 10/10 from me.”
This isn’t the first time that the property has been targeted by people unhappy with Putin’s recent actions.
Earlier this month a notorious French activist actually broke in before changing all of the locks and inviting Ukrainian refugees to come.
Pierre Afner posted a photo of himself in the apartment on social media, calling it “Villa Ukraine ”, but he was later arrested by French police.
Speaking to The Guardian, exiled Russian dissident Vladimir Osechkin, who is thought to be friends with Afner through their work in calling out Russian human rights abuses, said: “This isn’t fair.
“This isn’t justice.
“My friends were not doing any damage to this property, they were preparing it so that refugees from the war in Ukraine, including children, could stay there.
“That’s all they were doing.
“They had asked me to buy some sheets and linen for people to stay there.”
