posted 09-08-2008 05:40 AM               

Different press accounts put the value at $30,000 to $100,000.

Journalist James Oberg reports, "His large home is in the secure area of well-known 'cosmonaut dachas'. A picture of the house will be familiar to some."

posted 09-08-2008 05:45 AM               

I also hope that when this property is eventually offered for sale it will be reported and the seller prosecuted.

posted 09-08-2008 07:26 AM               

My son has a friend (10 yo) who lost his father about a year ago. While the family was away at the funeral someone broke into their house and stole everything of value but the furniture. Apparently this is a pretty common practice.

posted 09-08-2008 08:07 AM               

The cosmonaut's state awards, which were locked in a vault, were not stolen.

posted 09-08-2008 11:24 AM               

In her own room Svetlana Pavlovna did not find the two sets of earrings (including a gift of her spouse), and five fur coats disappeared from the closet.

The thieves were acting rather strange, said the police. They grabbed, for example, earrings, yet other jewelry which was lying nearby, was not touched. Most likely, they were looking for money. But they did not find any (the owners do not keep it in their home). That's why they grabbed what they came across. By the way, the burglars did not touch even the awards of Alexei Leonov. In total, damage amounted to about one million rubles, but it is still subject to corrections.

In search of money thieves swirled through the entire home. Even in the kitchen they pulled out and strewed about there packets with meat. And then they descended to the basement, which the family uses as a garage. There were unlocked cars - a brand new Mercedes and Land Cruiser Prada. But the otherwise-aimed assailants were not interested.

Detectives inspecting the house found a broken lattice and an abandoned burglar jimmy. Alas, there were no fingerprints on it - the tool, as it turned out, they held with work gloves. Detectives immediately suspected that the theft might involve local builders who two months ago changed heating boilers in the home. But they do not seem to be in on it - Leonov and his wife trusted these people unconditionally.

Now the search for assailants continues. Incidentally, according to detectives, home owners have significantly facilitated the thieves "work". In the mansion there are no alarms, video cameras, while at the entrance to the cottage settlement the police are not on guard.

As it turned out, residents (among them, the first woman cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova) have several times refused break-in protection services. So the bold thieves climbed into the house of Leonov (most likely crossed over the fence) and apparently fled in the woods adjacent to it.

What they took (a partial list):

• Gray-blue fur coat norkovaya (4 years old wearing) - 40 thousand rubles
  
• Norkovaya black fur coat (1-2 years of wearing) - 40 thousand rubles
  
• Norkovaya brown fur coat, cut (also wearing) - 60 thousand rubles
  
• From pestsa fur coat, white - 25 thousand rubles
  
• White pelerina - 30 thousand rubles
  
• Gold earrings with diamonds and sapphires, with pearls on a circle (10 mm diameter circle.)

posted 09-08-2008 02:43 PM               

Hopefully the thieves will be caught and the artifacts recovered safely. This will be widely reported in Russia so hopefully if someone is offered one of Leonov's pieces they will report it to the authorities.

posted 09-08-2008 04:37 PM               

UK sentencing authorities please take note!

Regards,

posted 09-10-2008 01:12 PM               

Henk Boshuijer