Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Oligarch's Ex Feared Kidnappers



Perhaps nothing highlights the lawless anarchy of a Russia unmoored to The West -- as it ought not to be -- better than this tale of Irina Abramovich, the ex-wife of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. From The Telegraph:

"The couple, who have two sons and three daughters, divorced in February last year, with 41-year-old Irina reportedly receiving (USD $227 million) from her husband's (USD $16.8 billion) fortune.

"But despite the money, his ex-wife has said she lived in fear of their children being kidnapped while also admitting it was stressful being surrounded by armed bodyguards.

"'My life with Roman was not the fairytale that the papers reported,' she told the Russian edition of OK! Magazine, adding: 'For my security and that of our children, he hired a group of bodyguards from a protection agency.

"'We changed mobile phone numbers once a week so nobody could trace my whereabouts. We were afraid of kidnapping attempts.

"'Yet we could not hide our children and not show them real life. So we went to theatres and museums with a crowd of bodyguards. Each year it got harder for me.'"


More here.

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