A billionaire friend and judo partner of tyrant Vladimir Putin has been revealed as helping pay for a multi-million pound swimming pool at the school attended by Prince William's children.
Oligarch Arkady Rotenberg, who made his fortune through gas pipe-lines, made a donation to the £2.2million complex at Lambrook School in Berkshire.
The £7,500 a term school, which boasts facilities including its own orchard, woodland, nine-hole golf course, a cricket pitch and the 25-metre swimming pool, is attended by all three children of the future king.
Rotenberg’s ex-wife Natalia confirmed they had given a donation - said to be worth tens of thousands, when their children were pupils.
She told the Sun on Sunday: “We were happy to support this school and give children the new opportunity for swimming.
“They have shown truly remarkable courage and resilience in the face of such human tragedy.”
A spokesman for the school said: "Lambrook has, and will always, fully comply with all appropriate legislation and undertakes strict due diligence for any charitable donation.”
The president's one-time judo partner Arkady Rotenberg was sanctioned even before the war in Ukraine broke out, slapped with financial restrictions by the UK government in December 2020. His son Igor is a majority shareholder in a Gazprom drilling company.
Arkady, and his brother Boris, are members of Russia’s richest family and childhood friends of Putin.
They were both subject to UK sanctions but much of the luxury property in the UK linked to their family is believed to have been bought by offshore trusts.
Arkady, who founded the SMP bank, was first sanctioned by the UK over links to a PR campaign allegedly designed to brainwash children in annexed Crimea into thinking they were Russian.
The 70-year-old tycoon is believed to be involved in a court battle over the £30million Surrey mansion where ex-wife Natalia, 41, lives.
Arkady’s son Igor has also been sanctioned in the UK for “close familial ties” to Putin, but his other adult children Pavel and Liliya were not on the list.
Younger brother Boris, 65, was sanctioned in the UK last month. US authorities have also sanctioned his wife Karina and sons Roman and Boris but none of the family have faced similar measures in the UK. Roman, 40, has British citizenship and lives in a London home worth around £8 million.
It comes days after the grim first anniversary of the breakout of the war in Ukraine.
Shortly after 4am local time on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and world leaders across the globe were stunned, including the then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Fears about Russian President Putin’s intentions had been mounting but no one was certain he would pull the trigger.
The warmonger appeared on Russian television to announce the beginning of what he called a “special military operation" and Mr Johnson was awoken in the middle of the night at 10 Downing Street with a call from one of his advisers who broke the news.
The then British Prime Minister responded with an obscenity directed at Putin: "That f***ing c***", the Washington Post has revealed.
He told the publication: "I was disgusted by Putin.”
