Viktor Yanukovych’s house: the taste of despots - PHOTO

Ukrainians continue to tour the opulent Mezhyhirya estate of their ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kiev on 21 February. With its marble-lined mansions, a golf course and a petting zoo, the residence in the village Novi Petrivtsi has been seen as a palace of corruption and greed. Yet according to writer Peter York, the author of Dictators’ Homes: Lifestyles of the World's Most Colourful Despots, it is not unusual. “The truth is, it’s exactly what I’d expect,” he says. “Inside, it was absolutely par for the course, which is chain hotels. The Kiev Sheraton circa 1975: put up a breezeblock and metal frame and slather it with as many cheap chandeliers and veneered panelling that you possibly can.” (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)(BBC)ANN.Az