ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A photograph taken by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sold for $1.7 million at a charity auction.
Medvedev’s black-and-white photo shows the kremlin, or fortress, in the Siberian town of Tobolsk.
It was snapped up for 51 million rubles by Mikhail Zingarevich, a board member at Ilim Group, the pulp and paper company where Medvedev once worked as a lawyer.
Auction proceeds go to World War II veterans, a children’s hospital and an alcohol rehabilitation center.
Medvedev follows the example set last year by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The former president donated a painting of a frost-rimmed window in a traditional wooden hut, which fetched 37 million rubles ($1.1 million at the time).
The annual auction includes artwork by well-known Russians.