Ukrainian journalist confronts Russian elite who are partying and celebrating in a fashionable French ski resort: “Why are you running away, Olga?” | War Ukraine and Russia

Courchevel has long been a favorite vacation spot for the Russian elite. Many oligarchs have a luxurious chalet there. And despite Western sanctions, the rich and famous still seem to roam the snowy streets undisturbed. This was discovered by Ukrainian journalists who traveled there.

For example, in the well-known ‘Cap Horn’ case, they filmed Svetlana Zakharova, the wife of the Russian Deputy Defense Minister, Timur Ivanov. She was singing and dancing to Russian music in the company of, among others, the Russian singer and television presenter Valeri Meladze.

It was the latter that journalist Mykhailo Tkach confronted when he came out. As they take a selfie together, he casually asks the singer how it feels to be in Courchevel while Russia is bombing Ukraine. The man is clearly uncomfortable and visibly irritated. He tries to fob him off, but Tkach won’t budge. Several times someone also tries to push the camera away.

Svetlana Zakharova stands by and looks at it. Later she is filmed shopping in the expensive boutiques of the winter sports area in the French Alps.

In December last year, she was also photographed while shopping in Paris. There she reportedly spent 70,000 euros in luxury shops. She herself is not sanctioned by the West, but her husband is.

‘Ukrainska Pravda’ also clashed with the wife of the sanctioned oligarch Andrey Bokarev: Olga Syrovatskaya. Until last year, Bokarev ran Transmashholding (TMH), Russia’s largest producer of metro and railway rolling stock. He also owns half of Ust-Luga Oil Company, the largest oil terminal in Europe. The American business magazine ‘Forbes’ estimates his current wealth at 2.5 billion euros.

Olga Syrovatskaya was also asked how she could relax in Courchevel while Russia is bombing Ukraine. “Why are you running away, Olga?” asks the journalist as she turns around and disappears into her chic chalet.

Another notable figure in Courchevel: Mikhail Karisalov, the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of SIBUR, a highly successful petrochemical company from Russia. It belongs to oligarch Leonid Michelson, with a fortune of 20 billion euros, the fourth richest man in Russia according to ‘Forbes’.

And also: Alexander Bazarov, who was vice-chairman of Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe. He is now a top executive of Uralkali, one of the largest producers of the fertilizer potash in the world.