Fire at Italian lake villa seized from Russian TV host Soloviev

A fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday at a villa belonging to Russian state TV host Vladimir Soloviev in the northern Italian town of Menaggio, on the shores of Lake Como, causing limited damage, firefighters said.

A fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday at a villa belonging to Russian state TV host Vladimir Soloviev in the northern Italian town of Menaggio, on the shores of Lake Como, causing limited damage, firefighters said. The house is one of two properties worth in total 8 million euros ($8.72 million) owned by Soloviev around Italy's Lake Como that Italian police said they seized after he and other oligarchs were placed on an EU sanctions list following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Carabinieri police said by phone they were investigating the fire, which is suspected arson, without giving further details. A spokesman for the Como fire brigarde said it had intervened at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) to extinguish the fire, which he said was started using tyres.

"The operation was completed at 8 a.m. and the damage was limited", he said, adding the two-storey building was under renovation and uninhabited. ($1 = 0.9171 euros)