Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, whose ex-partner was a member of Putin’s inner circle, has called for an end to the ‘politicisation of Russian people or culture’ amid the war in Ukraine.
The aristocratic beauty, who descends from a long line of Russian nobility, shares children Aliosha, Ivan and Maria with billionaire financier Sergei Pugachev, who was known as ‘Putin’s banker’ before he fell foul of the Kremlin and fled the country. He is now considered a ‘traitor’ by Putin.
Posting on Instagram, Alexandra, who lives in the UK, called for a greater understanding and support of the Russian people, saying many are opposed to Putin’s actions and are protesting the war ‘at great personal risk’.
She has also posted a fundraising appeal for a Russian orphanage and has been vocal in her condemnation of Putin’s actions in Ukraine. The posts have led to her being ‘trolled by Russian bots’ and losing more than 1,800 followers overnight.
Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, pictured, whose ex-partner was a member of Putin’s inner circle, has urged people not to ‘politicise Russian people or culture’ amid the war in Ukraine
Posting on Instagram, Alexandra called for a greater understanding and support of the Russian people, saying many are opposed to Putin’s actions and are protesting the war
The aristocratic beauty, who descends from a long line of Russian nobility, shares children Aliosha, Ivan and Maria with billionaire financier Sergei Pugachev, who was known as ‘Putin’s banker’ before he fell foul of the Kremlin and fled the country
She wrote: ‘Despite the trolling from paid Russian bots that I have received in the last days, I feel immensely proud to be partly Russian and a member of one of her most creative families.
‘Please do not politicise Russian culture, heritage and her wonderful people, many of whom are bravely opposing the war at great personal risk.’
Alexandra also promoted a talk being given this week by her father Nikolai Tolstoy, a historian and author of books including Victims of Yalta and the Ministers and the Massacres, that will address the war in Ukraine.
She continued: ‘[He will discuss the] divisive policies of the Soviet regime, and in particular the misinterpretation and propaganda by the current regime of the facts, a direct continuation of Soviet policy, as well as the slanderous “fascist” and “Nazi” accusations constantly flung against the Ukrainians.’
Promoting the talk, which will raise money for a Russian orphanage, she added: ‘Please do not forget how many Russians do not want this war and are bravely protesting and speaking up.’
Sergei said he enjoyed a ‘very close’ friendship with Russian president Vladimir Putin before falling out, with the politician calling Sergei ‘a traitor’ for dating an ‘English woman’
Alexandra’s title descends from her great-great grandfather, her father’s great-grandfather, Pavel Tolstoy-Miloslavsky, who was titled a Count for his services as the chamberlain to the last emperor, Nicolas II of Russia just after the First World War.
Pugachev was once dubbed ‘the Kremlin’s banker’ and was close to Vladimir Putin before falling into disfavour. He is now seen as a ‘traitor’ by the Russian president.
After arriving in the UK in 2011, he was accused of siphoning a fortune out of his finance house Mezhprombank. State creditors in Moscow pursued him in the British courts, claiming he embezzled hundreds of millions.
The oligarch fled to France, where he remains, and was sentenced to two years in his absence by a High Court judge in 2016 for breaching court orders relating to hundreds of millions in allegedly stolen cash.
Pugachev has cut off Alexandra and their children financially, she claims, and the family were evicted from Pugachev’s £12million south London family mansion during the height of the pandemic after reportedly being given just 12 days notice by the Russian government, who had repossessed the property.
It is understood Alexandra has since moved into another home in London, but she also has an idyllic country home, which she bought in 2004.
Pugachev once owned two major shipyards, the world’s biggest mine and large chunks of real estate in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as the Mezhprombank, which he co-founded in the 1990s.
The couple met in 2008 after Sergei hired Alexandra to help improve his English while they were both living in Russia, where Sergei was once-close friends with Putin.
Speaking of their relationship in a documentary, Alexandra said: ‘When I met Sergei it was electric. It was amazing. I fell so in love with him. I’ve never felt such a connection to someone ever.’
Within a year of meeting, they had a baby and another on the way, and were living a life of luxury in London, Moscow and Paris.
Alexandra said: ‘It was incredible, he would give me his credit card and I would go shopping, I had a private jet. I just had to pack my suitcase and I could go.’
The family moved between an array of properties including a £12million family home in Battersea, a 200-acre country estate in Hertfordshire, and a £40million beachfront villa in St Barts.
But in 2008, Sergei’s bank hit problems and the Russian bank bailed it out with $1 billion loan.
Sergei, who left Russia in 2011, claims that after relations between him and Putin cooled, the Kremlin tried to seize or destroy his business empire.
Alexandra has also posted a fundraising appeal for a Russian orphanage and has been vocal in her condemnation of Putin’s actions in Ukraine. The posts have led to her being ‘trolled by Russian bots’ and losing more than 1,800 followers overnight
The Russians then accused him of profiting from vast sums of taxpayers’ money given to Mezhprombank by the Russian central bank at the height of the 2008 economic crisis.
The Russian authorities froze his assets, put him on Interpol’s wanted list and obtained a court order in Britain forcing him to hand over his passports.
By 2015, he was dividing his time between France and the family home in London and claimed to be number 3 on Kremlin’s hitlist.
State creditors in Moscow pursued him in the British courts, claiming he embezzled hundreds of millions.
Pugachev fled to France before the 2016 High Court ruling in a case brought by Russia’s Deposit Insurance Agency, in which he was sentenced for 12 breaches of court orders connected to a freezing order imposed on him over attempts to recover the cash.
In the February 2016 High Court judgment, no ruling was made on the allegations of embezzled cash and Pugachev told the court he had ‘not stolen any money’. In her judgment jailing him, Mrs Justice Rose noted he ‘does have a genuine fear that his life is in danger from agents of the Russian state’.
Anne-Jessica Faure, a lawyer for Mr Pugachev, said there has been no court decision establishing financial wrongdoing by him.
On the order of the High Court, the family home was put on the market and Alexandra made a deal with the Russian government to drop her claim to his fortune.
