They were his first comments since mass protests erupted across the country over the weekend.

The mansion was featured in a video investigation released by jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The film, called Putin's Palace, went viral on Russian social media last week and has already been watched more than 19 million times.

On Saturday, thousands of Russians took to the streets braving police violence in what was a symbolic victory for Mr Novel money.

He has been imprisoned since mid January after returning to Russia from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning, something which he blames on the Russian president.

Well, I'm joined now by Maria Peptic from the Anti Corruption Investigative Unit, the team behind the investigation.

Maria, thank you so much for joining us.

I'll get to the investigation in a moment, but first of all over the weekend we saw mass protests across Russia on.

We really have seen protests in the past, But can you tell me what makes these different?

Um well, I mean the scale of It was definitely different.

We haven't seen anything like that, really?

Ever.

Probably because we're talking about this so called unauthorized unsanctioned process.

So the state has no authorized these people to go in the streets and eso those people are risking while they were risking everything being arrested, being beaten up, Andi, they still went.

And we're talking about 100 6200 people of ST um in the streets of 120 different cities across Russia.

So I think the scale of it is very different.

You lied Mr Navalny's investigative team.

In fact, you were one of the authors behind Putin's Palace.

Tell me why you decided to put out this particular investigation.

The timing of it, Well, we decided to do that.

I think a day or two after Alex, every game, countries, countries after he was poisoned with novel choke.

I think he was still in the emergency room in the hospital wards when he said, Okay, that's that's what we're going to do next.

We knew for sure we were 100% confident.

Who is about who is behind the poisoning?

We knew that a non operation of such scale is impossible.

Really?

Uh, on it could only be done, I guess by direct order from Vladimir Putin.

So we didn't really have any doubt about who is behind it on.

We decided to do what we do best in investigation about him personally, about his personal wealth, about his palace that he had secretly built in Russia on the luxurious lifestyle that he's living for years.

Yesterday we heard Mr Putin respond and say that actually, this palace is not mine.

It doesn't belong to me.

Were you surprised to hear that?

Um, not really, because this is how he always responds.

He says exactly the same thing about his daughter's.

Hey denies the fact that two women who live in Russia and who are also very, very wealthy, but he denies the fact that they are his daughters.

He denies most obvious things that everybody in the world understand.

True, he just does.

No, that's not true.

Like remember what happened with script balls and with two G R G offices who came to Britain.

Thio poison scribbles.

Vladimir Putin denied that, saying that these two were just tourists and they were coming to Salisbury to see the spire I watched the two hour, almost two hour documentary that you did.

It was incredibly detailed.

You use drone footage, you were able to put out the actual floor plan off the palace.

Just tell us a little bit about pulling together.

ALS that information because it was incredibly detailed.

Um, it took us some time.

But to be honest, no, as much time as everybody thinks, Um, the drone footage was a little bit more complex than than it is normally because they do have quite high security.

They have some anti drone equipment, but again, it didn't really save them, and it took us four attempts.

Thio film it.

But anyway, in any case, you see the British is there on in terms of the floor plans and in the interiors that you have mentioned, we've been kind of getting information about this for a very long time.

For years, they have started a very large scale reconstruction project there, maybe three years ago, four years ago on thousands off people are working on it.

You know, interior designers, um, just regularly the people who are relate tiles or, you know, and work on frescoes on the walls or buy furniture on bears.

So many people that I think at some point it became impossible.

Thio contain the information about this palace.

So we have been getting quite a lot of images of it and those floor plans and other documentation with regards to that palace for for a number of years.

And we've done this with him is that we just put this all together on made a coherent story.

I mean, millions tens of millions of people have viewed this.

Now, is that something that you found surprising to see the kind of response to this, To be honest, yes.

I probably should say that we expected it, but we definitely didn't.

I don't think I wear now at about 90 to 93 million views on YouTube.

Um, I couldn't have seen it in my wildest dreams.

And I'm so happy.

And I'm so pleased that people like it people which people share it, it zits very rewarding.

And e just wish we've done it earlier.

Really?

You earlier spoke about Mr Navalny and the nerve agent attack on him.

You actually sounded the alarm on that.

You were.

You were the first person to say this could be the nerve Agent Nava.

Chalk.

Just tell me what happened.

Um well, it happens in during our trip this summer to Siberia, we were filming a couple of investigations there in Tomsk and Novosibirsk.

And Alexei felt sick on the airplane.

We?

Well, well, the rest of the team State and Tomsk Aunt.

To be honest, we just figured out that a man of his age and the relatively good state of health hey, exercises he runs.

He has no complaints with regards to his health.

Cannot just fall into a coma randomly.

So pretty much.

But there, within minutes, we stormed into his room and try Thio get a what kind of evidence that we can get from the hotel room from where he checked out earlier, assuming that can be some sort of poisoning.

And then a couple of weeks, weeks later, the German army lab even just fell out, found a trace off knowledge nerve agent on one of the water bottles that we have taken from his room.

Maria.

I mean, as I said, you lied His investigative team.

You also live with the threat of harassment and arrest.

I mean, what is the endgame here?

Well, the end game here is to remove Vladimir Putin from power.

And what do you expect the international community to do?

The Europeans, the United States with regards to what, exactly?

It's, uh, I suppose Mr Navalny has now being arrested.

Thes documentary has come out.

You're going to continue to do your investigations.

Do you expect just condemnations?

Do you expect sanctions?

We expect all sorts of supports were not being very hopeful.

We are fully aware that we need to solve our internal Russian problems ourselves, ourselves.

And there is not going to be a someone that some sort of magical person from outside who is going to come and solve our problems.

That's that's the battle that we're fighting in Russia.

Off course.

We appreciate all sorts of support that has been coming, and the many world leaders have been making their statements.

Many institutions have been expressing their concerns.

There have been some sanctions imposed on.

I guess there will be more because we're talking not only about Aleksei Navalny himself in opposition leader, but we're also talking about Russia running on underground chemical weapons program, which really shouldn't exist in 2021 The program that they're using to target and to kill, um people who?

Vladimir Putin is Unpleased with Maria Peptic.

Really fascinating talking to thank you so much for joining us here on the program.