Putin Rival Caught In Sex Video With Aide, Destroying Opposition Chances Ahead Of Key Elections This Year
While Russian President Vladimir Putin is busy with his re-election campaign to seek a fourth term in office in 2018, his bitter rival former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has been caught having sex with a British-raised activist.
Kasyanov, 58, who was tipped as one of the few opposition leaders capable of toppling Putin found himself in hot water after a black-and-white 40-minute sex video of him with playwright and activist Natalya Pelevine, 39, in an apartment, was aired on Russian state channel NTV.
The pair were seen embracing one another in the film that was apparently aimed at destroying one of the few opposition leaders seen as remotely capable of toppling Putin as president.
The video was also intended to humiliate UK citizen and Soviet-born Pelevine, who has been a constant critic of the Russian leadership, especially over its actions in Chechnya and lack of democracy.
The man who served as prime minister from 2000 to 2004 and is married with two children, has refused to comment about the footage that was billed as “Kasyanov Day” with the woman who also acts as his aide in his RPR Parnas party.
However, Pelevine blamed the authorities and secret services for what she called a “criminal” act, apologising for what is shown in the documentary, on her Facebook page. She was also reported saying she would take legal action against NTV.
It appeared that the pair had been secretly filmed by a hidden camera in a dressing table in the bedroom of a Moscow flat apparently used for covert liaisons between the secret lovers, although it remains unclear who is behind the filming.
According to South China Morning Post, "NTV has played a prominent part in pursuing opposition leaders. In 2012, it provoked demonstrations when it broadcast a documentary alleging that protesters had been paid to take part in anti-Putin rallies. Anger at alleged ballotrigging in 2011 parliamentary elections sparked the largest street protests during Putin’s rule."
-Malaysian Digest
