Luxury amid war: the family of Ukraine’s Defense Minister lives in an oceanfront villa in the USA and owns an art gallerу

The family of Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov lives in the United States, in a house with a swimming pool on the Atlantic coast, and also owns an art gallery.

This was stated by Daria Kaleniuk, head of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center.

She posted photos of the minister’s family estate in Boca Raton, Florida.

“The defense minister’s family — all three of his children, his wife, his brother, and his father — do not live in Ukraine. They live in Florida, in the town of Boca Raton. At least, that’s where the Umerov family’s businesses are registered,” Kaleniuk said.

She also mentioned among the Umerov family’s assets an art gallery based in the U.S.

“I don’t know why the Umerov family needs an art gallery in America, but they do have a business there, and the whole family lives there. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of families have nowhere to shelter from Shahed drone attacks — they don’t have a house in Florida,” Kaleniuk added.

Kaleniuk brought up the minister’s real estate holdings in the context of criticizing the Ministry of Defense for its failure to counter Shahed drones effectively.

“Perhaps such thoughts don’t occur to Mr. Umerov’s wife, and he sleeps well knowing his children are safe — because Shahed drones don’t fly over Florida or the Atlantic coast,” she concluded.

The fact that Umerov’s family lives in the U.S. was officially acknowledged by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense back in 2023, which stated that they moved there in 2016 due to threats made against Umerov. At the time, the ministry denied claims that Umerov’s children hold U.S. citizenship.

Meanwhile, Umerov has publicly supported the mobilization of Ukrainians living abroad, including threats of sanctions for those who refuse to return.