Picture Tells a Story

I laughed my head off at this photo published by the BBC which shows part of the lavish country estate of the 'former' Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Now the head of state in just about every country I can think of tend to live in luxury compared to ordinary citizens - our own Queen has more castles and palaces than she knows what to do with - and our politicians look after themselves well too.

The UK Prime Minister has a country estate called Chequers where he can escape the daily pressures of 10 Downing Street - the American President has Camp David for similar reasons. 

But a replica galleon floating on an artificial waterway takes the biscuit and to think that because of the repressive nature of Ukraine its people are only now beginning to understand how their rulers live.

I imagine the same would be true if a free press existed in Russia, to shine a light on the excesses of President Vladimir Putin and his cronies.

Let's hope that the spirit shown in Ukraine extends to other 'satellite' countries of the former Soviet Union and perhaps even to Russia itself.


With the gates to the secretive estate thrown open, people discovered a replica galleon floating on an artificial waterway.