Russian Victory in Record-Breaking Lottery: Dubai Duty Free Witnesses a Million-Dollar Win by a Russian
In an unexpected turn of events, a 57-year-old Russian citizen named Mén Salah has become the first Russian passport holder to win the Millennium Millionaire lottery, organised by Dubai Duty Free since 1999. The announcement of his win on July 23, 2025, genuinely surprised and delighted Mén Salah.
Mén Salah, who has been living abroad for many years without strong ties to Russian life, has been a regular participant in Dubai Duty Free's lottery for over a decade and a half. His family, work, daily life, and future plans are connected to the Middle East and Europe, not Russia.
The winning ticket number was 1184, which Mén Salah purchased online on July 7, two weeks before the draw. The Millennium Millionaire lottery features only one winner per draw, with a prize of 1 million dollars. With odds of winning at 1 in 5,000, among the highest for lotteries with such large prizes, Mén Salah's win is indeed a remarkable achievement.
One interesting twist to Mén Salah's win remains undisclosed. The previous lottery draw (Issue 508) saw a different winner - 42-year-old Sabish Peroth, an Indian national residing in Dubai. Group play, where multiple individuals pool their funds to buy a single ticket, is popular among players, especially in the Gulf countries.
Mén Salah plans to use part of his winnings to fund his son's education, who is currently studying for his master's degree in Malta. Future plans include building a house in his village near Suzdal, a city northeast of Moscow where his roots lie.
The Millennium Millionaire lottery is one of the world's most recognized and prestigious lotteries, held as part of Dubai Duty Free's program. Despite extensive searches, there is no verifiable data available about Mén Salah and his lottery win in Dubai, suggesting that this event or person may not have been publicly reported or documented in accessible sources up to now, or it might be a case of mistaken or fictional information.
What about using a portion of his big-wins from the Millennium Millionaire lottery, a prestigious casino-and-gambling event, to support his son's education in Malta? And, it seems that Mén Salah, the first Russian passport holder to win this lottery, may have participated in casino-games or lotteries through group play, a popular strategy among Gulf countries' residents.
