"Ban on Western Products...? Putin Wearing a 10 Million Won Italian Suit"

Criticized NATO at Forum While Wearing Luxury Brands
Officials Banned from Using Western Products... "Hypocritical Behavior"
Rumors of Hidden Wealth Including Luxurious Villas and Yachts

Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked controversy after being spotted wearing an expensive Italian luxury suit while criticizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for allegedly trying to occupy Russia.

On the 15th (local time), the UK Daily Mail reported a video of Putin taken the previous day at a forum in Moscow, Russia. In the video, President Putin raised his arm while joking about NATO as he spoke about Western desires and corruption. At that moment, the label inside the jacket he was wearing was caught on camera.

The suit Putin wore at the time was from the Italian luxury brand Brioni, reportedly costing ?7,000 (about 11.7 million KRW). Brioni is known to be his favorite suit brand.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia [Image source=Yonhap News]

President Putin has regularly instructed officials not to use Western products and even replaced official vehicles with domestically produced cars. However, he could not avoid criticism for hypocrisy after being photographed wearing an expensive foreign luxury suit. The Daily Mail pointed out, "The price of President Putin's suit is compared to Russia's average pension of ?38.49 (about 60,000 KRW) per week."

This is not the first time Putin has been criticized for wearing luxury items during wartime. In October 2022, he wore a Brioni jacket at an event commemorating the treaty to annex occupied Ukrainian territories, drawing controversy. In March of the same year, he also faced international criticism for wearing a product from the Italian high-end brand Loro Piana on stage at the 8th anniversary celebration of the Crimean Peninsula annexation.

There have also been ongoing allegations that President Putin is hiding vast wealth, including luxury villas and yachts.

The UK-based investigative journalism outlet Dossier Center, which has been tracking corruption among Russia's elite, revealed on the 30th of last month that "President Putin owns a hidden luxury villa," releasing drone footage of a roughly 4 km² estate. This is about 1.4 times the size of Yeouido (2.9 km²). The UK BBC also reported, "There are rumors that President Putin's actual wealth amounts to $125 billion (about 166 trillion KRW), hidden in paper companies or friends' accounts."

President Putin, who is running for a fifth term in the March presidential election, declared to the Russian Central Election Commission last month that he owns a 77㎡ (about 23 pyeong) apartment in Saint Petersburg and reported an income of about 1 billion KRW over six years as his assets.