After a barrage of
complaints on social media from foreign journalists documenting farcical hotel conditions at the Sochi Winter Olympics, a top Russian official hit back, saying Western visitors are deliberately trying to sabotage Russia's image, and he has the footage from shower spycams to prove it.
"We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall, and then leave the room for the whole day," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak
told The Wall Street Journal.
Editor’s Note: Get Exclusive Analysis on the Sochi Olympics From LIGNET’s Top US Intelligence Experts.
For days journalists at the games have complained of incomplete construction, inadequate plumbing, dysfunctional toilets, hotel rooms without doorknobs, and suspiciously colored tap water.
In response to criticisms of the substandard accommodation conditions, Kozak said, "We've put 100,000 guests in rooms and only gotten 103 registered complains and every one of those is being taken care of."
A spokesman for Kozak later told the Journal that the official misspoke, and there were no surveillance cameras inside hotel bathrooms.
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