Flight MH17: Vladimir Putin's daughter flees £2million Dutch penthouse flat as fury grows over jet tragedy
The Russian leader's daughter Maria, 29, and boyfriend Jorrit Faasen have gone into hiding as anger mounts in the Netherlands
Vladimir Putin’s daughter has fled her Dutch home as fury grows over Flight mH17.
Maria Putin lived just 20 miles from the airport where the doomed jet dpoarted from.
News that the Russian president's daughter was living among a nation of people still fuming over Russia’s role in the downing of Flight MH17 was only going to spark more outrage.
And once it became known the 29-year-old had a £2million apartment not far from the Dutch airport where the doomed jet left on its final, tragic journey, the angry protests quickly started.
There were demands for Maria to be deported and one Twitter user posted: “Its time you leave B*TCH.”
Another wrote: “Very convenient that Maria Putina lives so close to The Hague. Won’t have to go far to see her father’s trial.”
Maria and boyfriend Jorrit Faasen, 34, who lived in a riverside flat in Voorschoten on the outskirts of the Dutch capital, fled amid the mounting fury.
One resident said tonight: “We have not seen her here since the plane went down.
"She moved in last year and it was all kept quiet for a while. But once it became known who she was, there was certainly some disquiet. And now this has happened. She is obviously not responsible for her father’s actions but we don’t want demonstrations around here.”
The neighbour spoke as 51 more of the 193 bodies recovered from the crash site in Ukraine were returned to Holland to join the 40 who arrived on Wednesday.
Many blame president Putin for the disaster, insisting Kremlin chiefs supplied the missile that blasted the Malaysia Airlines jet out of the sky at 30,000ft – killing 298 passengers and crew, including 10 Brits and 193 Dutch.
Pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists control the region where it crashed. Although they deny being responsible and claim the Ukrainian shot it down in a blame game that last night was showing no sign of ending.
The bodies will be identified in the town of Hilversum, near Amsterdam.
Mayor Pieter Broertjes also spoke of his anger at the presence of Putin’s daughter in Holland.
He said: “We could also deport Putin’s daughter, she lives in The Netherlands. Then you’ve got a whole different signal you could give.”
He later apologised for the comments and admitted they were “not wise”. But he added: “They stemmed from a feeling of helplessness that many would recognise.”
Maria’s position in Holland was made more perilous after Ukrainian activists published her address on websites.
Her whereabouts were last night unknown. But her father is reported to have a personal wealth of more than £40billion, with properties around the world including a £200million palace on the Black Sea.
Jorrit is also understood to be wealthy in his own right. He worked as an executive for Russian energy giant Gazprom.
There were reports the pair could be back in Moscow where they can be better protected by Putin.
A photograph of Maria, published today, will come as a revelation to many young Russians who have never seen her face.
The only existing pictures are from when Putin first came to power in 1999, when he was pictured with Maria, her sister Ekaterina, and his ex-wife Lyudmila.
Known as Masha to friends, she was born in Petersburg and was named after her dad’s mother. Maria is thought to have studied biology at St Petersburg State University – where Putin attended.
He is extremely protective of his daughters’ privacy. Ekaterina, 27, is believed to have married the son of a South Korean admiral, though her life is also shrouded in mystery.
As the furore grew over news Maria lived among those mourning the dead of an avoidable tragedy many believe her father’s regime played a key role in, Russia angrily denied it supplied the missile that blew up the jet.
Alexander Yakovenko, the Kremlin’s ambassador to Britain, said Western claims that pro-Russian separatists were responsible did “not hold water”. And he accused the Ukrainian and American governments of trying to engineer a “cover up” over the real cause of the disaster.
Mr Yakovenko added: “Russia doesn’t supply weapons to de facto authorities in Ukraine. No evidence whatsoever has been presented that the Russian government has been doing this.
He also condemned plans by the EU and US to slap tougher sanctions on Moscow.
Britain is pushing for the European Union to impose restrictions on Russia’s defence, energy and financial sectors because of Putin’s refusal to help with investigations into the Flight MH17 tragedy.
The ambassador said: “First of all, we believe they are illegal, unreasonable and counter-productive. They have nothing to do with the national interests of the countries concerned, including America.
"In my view, the sectoral sanctions against Russia will trigger the long-anticipated endgame of the present global crisis.
“Needless to say, we will consider any further sanctions against us and the measures of political pressure as the clear evidence that our Western partners cannot substantiate their allegations and are eager to engage in a cover-up of the true causes of the MH17 tragedy.”
Mr Yakovenko claimed the case against Russia and the separatists had been largely built on photographs and messages from social media sites which had since “proved to be forgeries”.
But the White House last night accused Russia of firing artillery across the border into Ukraine and said it has evidence that it was planning on giving “heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers” to the separatists.
That came as Boris Johnson claimed the Foreign Office had been charged with checking the validity of donations to the Tories from Russian oligarchs with links to Putin.
David Cameron was embarrassed this week when it emerged the party has taken nearly £1million from Russians – including a £160,000 bid for a tennis match with him and Mr Johnson by Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former Moscow trade minister.
The London mayor said: “Obviously we are relying heavily on the Foreign Office because they are leading on this and I’ve had absolutely categorical assurances and I think I’ve met this gentleman’s wife and she seemed very nice but they’ve checked him-her out as far as they possibly can.”
But Labour MP Chris Bryant said: “Boris has let the cat out of the bag about the hundreds of thousands of pounds the Tories have taken.”
A Tory source said claims the Foreign Office had carried out the checks were “nonsense”.
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