The photographs were published by Ruleaks, a group of self-proclaimed “activists from the Pirate Party of Russia and Russian-speaking activists from other Pirate Parties around the world.” The activists organize the translation of classified documents released by Wikileaks into Russian and the publication of those and other materials on the Ruleaks website.

On a page titled “Photographs of ‘Putin’s Palace’ in Praskoveevka on the Black Sea,” several dozen photographs show a gigantic Italian-style villa, complete with colonnades, balconies, and an enclosed park with a fountain. The interior is extravagantly decorated with frescoes, elaborate chandeliers and a wealth of marble and gold trim. The palace appears to be fully furnished and includes a desk bearing the Russian coat of arms; it is identical to the desk in the prime minister’s Novo-Ogaryovo residence.

This is the first time that high-quality photographs of the villa have been published. It was previously visible from satellite imagery and photographs taken from far away, but the building’s high security made it impossible to get up close. The newly-released photographs appear to have been taken by an on-site worker.

Ruleaks underwent a DDoS attack shortly after the photographs went live on January 18, making it temporarily impossible to access the website.

The organization stipulates that it cannot confirm that the residence belongs to Vladimir Putin: “We are not prepared to confirm whose palace this is, we are only publishing photographs of the facility itself.”

The photographs come one month after St. Petersburg businessman Sergei Kolesnikov sent an open letter to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev alleging that a palace “for the personal use of the Prime Minister of Russia” was being built on the Black Sea. “To date this palace costs over $1 billion U.S., mainly through a combination of corruption, bribery and theft.” Kolesnikov goes on to painstakingly detail the corrupt business dealings and theft of state funds that culminated in the creation of this complex. After publishing the letter, Kolesnikov reportedly went abroad and is waiting for the president’s reaction.

The newspaper Vedomosti was able to connect with Kolesnikov and verify his claim to the allegations. Judging by the text of his letter, Kolesnikov is the former business partner of two of Putin’s friends, Nikolai Shamalov and Dmitri Gorelov. The newspaper was able to confirm that Shamalov and Gorelov did indeed have a partner named Sergei Kolesnikov. Formally, the palace belongs to Shamalov, but Kolesnikov asserts that it is intended for the prime minister. “If this palace is Shamalov’s, then why is the state spending its own money to build him roads and electrical lines?” Kolesnikov said to Vedomosti.

Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri Peskov, denied that the prime minister had any connection to the Black Sea complex. Shamalov and Gorelov did not respond to inquiries from Vedomosti.

See the full set of photographs on Ruleaks.net.

Click here for the Sergei Kolesnikov’s letter to the Russian president.

Russia’s state-sponsored media is largely ignoring the leaked cables, while more independent online and newspaper media sources have been discussing them more actively. As Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty argues, most Russians are already “well aware of rampant corruption among their country’s ruling elite” and may be unfazed by the revelations.

But the ruling elite itself is clearly irked. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the United States had acted “with arrogance, rudeness, and unethically,” and his political party, United Russia, released a statement late on Thursday complaining that corruption is a problem in every country and Russia was being unfairly stereotyped. “This can only be done with one goal: to prevent Russia and its foreign partners from entering a new level of cooperation. Such a policy is, at a minimum, unwise and unmeasured,” read the statement.

The number of allegations, analyses, and observations in these materials is already so vast as to easily overwhelm the reader. Given that only 608 of the total 250,000+ leaked cables have been released so far, this is likely only the tip of the iceberg. Below is a set of summaries of some of the most scathing articles on Russia and the cables.

WikiLeaks cables condemn Russia as ‘mafia state’
The Guardian
A rundown of several leaked cables that label Russia as a “corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy” that is “using [the] mafia for its dirty work” and where law enforcement agencies “operate a de facto protection racket for criminal networks.” Years of investigations by a Spanish prosecutor back the allegations.

Additionally, Prime Minister Putin is accused of hiding “secret wealth” in overseas accounts.

Dmitry Medvedev ‘plays Robin to Putin’s Batman’
The Guardian
Jokes about this comparison have already fully permeated the global news media. But, as this article describes, the entirety of what was said in this cable paints a more complex picture of the rulers’ relationship. That idea that Putin and Medvedev are akin to Batman and Robin was only one of three camps adhered to by US diplomats’ Russian contacts. The other two sides argued that Medvedev was either slowly gaining power or was no different than Putin.

In an interesting side note, US officials argued that “gullible Europeans and Americans who believed Medvedev was more enlightened than Putin were probably fooling themselves.”

Questioning Putin’s Work Ethic
via the New York Times
Former US Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle contends that Putin resents his workload as prime minister and has taken to “working from home.” In light of his frequent absence from the Russian White House, the bulk of ministerial duties have been left to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. This lead to delays in project implementation because “the Russian system was geared to top-down decisions and paralysis was often the result of Putin’s inaction.”

Alexander Litvinenko murder ‘probably had Putin’s OK’
The Guardian
Daniel Fried, the former top US diplomat in Europe, questioned in one cable “whether rogue security elements could operate, in the UK no less, without Putin’s knowledge,” and “described the Russians as increasingly self-confident, to the point of arrogance.” The article also cites additional evidence of Russian governmental involvement in the murder.

In response to the revelations, Litvinenko’s widow, Marina Litvinenko, summed up a common sentiment regarding the cables in general: “For years we have been trying to get the authorities in the west to view my husband’s murder as a state-sponsored crime. Now it appears they knew it all along.”

Moscow mayor presided over ‘pyramid of corruption’
The Guardian
Ambassador Beyrle describes Moscow under recently fired Mayor Yury Luzhkov. That city, he says, constituted “a system in which it appears that almost everyone at every level is involved in some form of corruption or criminal behaviour.” In his frank assessment of “Moscow’s criminal world,” Beyrle states: “Luzhkov is at the top. The FSB, MVD [security services and police – ed.] and militia are at the second level. Finally ordinary criminals and corrupt inspectors are at the lowest level.”

The ambassador’s sources disagreed whether city officials paid off top Kremlin insiders with suitcases “full of money” or “via a secret account in Cyprus.”

According to the Guardian, Beyrle’s description of corruption in the Russian government and security agencies “offers the most detailed and apparently authoritative account so far.” The newspaper notes that the Kremlin will likely be embarrassed by the allegations, given President Medvedev’s stated attempts to thwart corruption.

Another cable details Luzhkov’s use of the city budget to both line his own pockets and finance “his nationalist foreign policy agenda.”

Russian move to airbrush Stalin ‘too half-hearted’
The Guardian
Attempts by the Kremlin to whitewash dictator Joseph Stalin’s bloody reputation were not strong enough to constitute a real threat to academic freedom in Russia, and were mostly made for political ends, says the US embassy in Moscow. At the same time, leaked sources cite disturbing tactics to this end, including by ordering professors to turn in students who expressed “concepts damaging to Russia’s interests.” It also includes accusations that the Kremlin pays bloggers to influence online debates over Soviet-era human rights abuses.

Speaking in an interview with CNN host Larry King, the prime minister effectively accused the United States of applying a double-standard to criticism of democracy. “When we talk with our American friends and tell them there are systemic problems in this regard, we hear from them: ‘Don’t interfere in our affairs. These are our traditions, and we don’t plan on changing them.’ And we don’t interfere,” Putin said. “But to our colleagues, I would also like to advise you: don’t interfere, either, [with] the sovereign choice of the Russian people.”

In response to a Wikileaks document where the United States compares Putin and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev to Batman and Robin, Putin responded that such remarks “are made in order to compromise one of us.”

“The truth is that this was said regarding our [Putin and Medvedev’s – ed.] cooperation. And this is an important thing for the domestic politics of our country,” the prime minister said. “To be honest, we didn’t suspect that it was going to be done with such arrogance, with such rudeness, and so unethically.”

Overall, however, Putin said he did not think the Wikileaks scandal was a catastrophe. “Some experts believe that somebody is using Wikileaks for their own political goals,” he said in the interview. “That’s one of the versions. That’s the opinion of experts. If that’s not the case, then the diplomatic services need to be more attentive in providing confidentiality for their correspondence. Leaks like this, by the way, have happened before, so it’s not a catastrophe.”

The interview will be aired on CNN tonight at 9 pm EST. It comes ten years after Putin’s last interview with Larry King, memorable for the then-president’s response to King’s question about the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster. When asked “what happened with the submarine,” Putin paused and simply responded: “it sunk.”