January 17, 2023

Dubai is the New Vologda


Dubai is the New Vologda
United Russia deputy and the daughter of defense minister Sergei Shoigu in "Vologda" (Dubai). Denis Dolzhenko, VKontakte

A United Russia legislator has come under fire for bragging about his vacation to Dubai on social media during wartime. As part of the scandal, he lied about his whereabouts, posting a picture with a daughter of Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu and saying they were in a region of Russia where the temperature was -20ºC, yet he was wearing shorts.

On January 6, Denis Dolzhenko, a member of the legislative assembly of Vologda Oblast, uploaded a selfie to his VKontakte account while on a jog in Dubai. The caption read: "I'm not good at skiing, and running in such cold weather isn't pleasant. I listened to the recommendations of weather forecasters, I warmed up."

However, this didn't fool many. The Vologdian press criticized the legislator's insensitivity in times of war. The Secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Andrey Turchak, promised that Dolzhenko would be punished and deprived of his party card.

The press also noted that Dolzhenko uploaded a picture of himself alongside Ksenia Shoigu, who was promoting her half-marathon "ZaBeg." According to the post, Shoigu's daughter and the legislator were in Vologda. Yet journalists from Sotavision who examined the picture closely pointed out a reflection of the brand name "Louis Féraud." The company has a shop near the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, but nowhere near Vologda. 

Investigative journalist Sergey Yezhov posted on Telegram that the defense minister's daughter has been staying in the $590-a-night Caesars Palace hotel in Dubai since New Year's day. Russian authorities have not commented on Ksenia Shoigu's vacation.

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