Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin puppet presenter Vladimir Solovyev has seen his luxury Italian villa on Lake Como targeted by an arson attack early this morning.
The villa of Menaggio, which is currently being renovated, is understood to have been attacked in the early hours when burning tyres were thrown over the villa walls, reports Italian publication Rai News.
Solovyev, 58, who works as a Russian state TV presenter and is regarded as a propagandist for Putin, uses his prime time show in Russia to criticise the Ukrainian government and rant about the Western world.
One of his shows in early March saw him publicly backing Putin's invasion of Ukraine and criticising the West.
It has left the oligarch with a far from popular reputation in Italy, with neighbours of his Lake Como villa calling him "arrogant" and "hypocritical" as he drives around in pricey German cars and buys up beautiful Italian homes while slamming the West's way of life, the Daily Mail reported.
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Menaggio is one of three of Solovyev real estate properties and his most recent property purchase in northern Italy.
It was one of the assets that the Italian Government ordered to be frozen as part of a crackdown on Putin's oligarchs in the EU as the war rages on in Ukraine. Two of Solovyev's three properties are understood to have been seized.
Officials are currently trying to reconstruct the attack on the villa, which happened in the early hours of Wednesday April 6, using footage from its private patio cameras.
Solovyev has been speaking out in protest against confiscating his property, calling it unfair and illogical.
Initial investigations suggest another one of Solovyev's homes may have been targeted overnight as its external walls were reportedly smeared, although it is reportedly unclear whether a break-in was intended.
Italian media is reporting that the arson incident was more of an act of protest than an actual attack intended to cause harm, since it caused very little damage overall, with only a pile of tyres in front of the home set alight.
The flames were then noticed by a passersby who alerted firefighters and Italian police, the Carabinieri. The fire was put out soon afterwards.
Airing his criticism of Italy joining other European countries in sanctioning oligarchs, Solovyev said on his evening news show back in March: “For every transaction I brought documents that proved my official salary, income, I did everything.
"I bought them and paid a crazy amount of taxes, I did everything. And suddenly someone decides that I, this journalist, are now on the sanctions list. And immediately they hit my property.”
Michele Spaggiari, mayor of the local municipality, spoke this morning about the arson attack: “The investigations of the Carabinieri are underway, but we can already say that the vandals did not cause significant damage.
"The villa is empty at the moment, with rustic walls and concrete floors. It could be it was basically treated as a demonstrative act, which fortunately did not have serious consequences."
