Inside the gilded lives of London's Russian rich and famous

With more than 100,000 expats living in the capital, Russian-born millionaires have fuelled constant headlines in recent years as they buy up properties in some of London's wealthiest areas.

But despite renewed attention amid their home country's economic woes, there is still little that is known about the everyday lives of those who have become some of Britain's richest residents.

The one-off BBC documentary last night, Rich, Russian and Living in London, followed some of Moscow's most prominent expats, from an art collector to a political dissident.

Supermodel Katia Elizarova told the programme: 'I'm devoted. I'm in love with London forever. Maybe there is some English person living inside me but I'm still quite Russian too.'

The show's creators aimed to debunk many of the myths about Russia's diaspora - though they also fuelled new ones.

There was the firm of estate agents which has drawn up a map for buyers with famous hotels, buildings from the elite flats One Hyde Park to Kensington Palace, and even the Russian embassy.

They said every Russian who spends £10million on a flat spends £4.5million in the British economy, and the centre of the house-hunting is Mayfair - the traditional home of London's super-rich.

And there was testimony - set between glamorous images of London's annual Russian ball, where tickets cost between £390 and £790 - from millionaire art collector Igor Tsunkanov, interviewed in his all-white apartment.

'Those guys who are worth let's say £100million, they say "we are not wealthy because there are guys who are worth a billion",' he said.

'But those guys worth a billion say "we're not wealthy, there are guys worth tens of billions". It's all about perception.'

The show interviewed luxury wine shop owner Evgeny Chichvarkin, who spent four years as a teenager on street markets before the Soviet Union collapsed.

He was 17 at the time, and started selling mobile phones when the country opened up to western business ideas.

'I just wanted money,' he said - adding he didn't even realise when he had become a millionaire.

'Our accounting manager said when we reached 2million,' he said. 'It was 24/7 non-stop, buying and selling'.

He moved to London's exclusive area of Mayfair and opened his store, which now caters to the wealthiest members of the elite. He is thought to be worth hundreds of millions.

The programme tried to answer why many remain staunchly patriotic while obsessing about English 'high society' icons such as private schools, polo and the monarchy.

There was an entrepreneur chased out of Russia for his liberal views and growing bank balance on one hand, and two debutantes preparing for the glitz and glamour of the Russian ball on the other.

The film met Princess Olga Romanov, the granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas II's sister, and questioned what the Russians think of the locals in their new-found home.

Wealthy Russians have flooded into London since the fall of the Soviet Union, and particularly in the last few years as it has become a fashionable destination.

Last month MailOnline revealed how hundreds of Russian oligarchs were preparing to buy swathes of ultra-expensive property in London to protect their wealth against the country's crumbling economy.

Luxury agents Beauchamp Estates said six buyers requested £100million homes each in upmarket Mayfair, Belgravia and Kensington in just a few days to get their money out of Moscow. 

It came after the rouble went into free-fall yesterday as its value dropped by up to 20 per cent against the dollar, an all-time low. It has since risen, but remains unstable. 

Gary Hersham, the firm's managing director, said: 'Wealthy Russians are desperate to get their money out of Moscow at present.

'We have seen a 10 per cent upturn in Russian clients since the decline in value and the international sanctions biting into the Russian economy.

'I currently have half a dozen Russian clients urgently looking to spend over £20million each on buying a new home in prime Central London. 

'For them the address must be Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Regents Park. It's got to be a prestigious postcode and ideally a park-side or leafy address.'

(dailymail.co.uk)