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Italy won't say who's paying for the care of a $700 million superyacht tied to Putin

Dustin Jones

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Laura Lezza/Getty Images hide caption

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Scheherazade superyacht was impounded by the Italian government in May 2022 in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Instead of falling into disrepair, Italy has allowed its owner to maintain and refit the vessel, but it won't disclose who is footing the bill.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the vessel has been held at port in Marina di Carrara, located almost 90 miles northwest of Florence, since it was impounded by authorities in the spring of 2022. For over a year, the Italian government has permitted the owner to continue paying for the ship's staff, its maintenance and refitting of the vessel. But Italy won't identify the owner.

Italy's Finance Ministry said in a May 2022 news release that the superyacht had "significant economic and business links" with "prominent elements of the Russian government" but didn't name the owner of the ship.

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According to the website SuperYachtFan , the 460-foot superyacht belongs to Russian billionaire Eduard Khudainatov. However, Bloomberg News reported in 2022 that he is a "straw owner" of the superyacht — as well as another ship — and that the Scheherazade actually belongs to Putin.

The Financial Times reported that the Scheherazade has 22 cabins, two helicopter decks and a spa and that it's being refitted by the Italian Sea Group. NPR reached out to the Italian Sea Group for comment but did not hear back before publication.

The United States created Task Force KleptoCapture in the wake of Putin's war against Ukraine, aiming to hold Russian oligarchs accountable for evading sanctions. In its one year of operation, the task force has brought charges to at least 35 individuals and entities, NPR previously reported.

Part of those efforts included seizing luxury items belonging to billionaires with ties to the Kremlin. This includes items like a 348-foot yacht seized in Fiji in May 2022, which is valued at about $300 million and is now sitting in San Diego.

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U.S. Officials Say Superyacht Could be Putin’s

They say they have indications that the $700 million, 459-foot yacht, which is in dry dock in Italy, is associated with the Russian president, backing an earlier claim by a former crew member.

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By Julian E. Barnes ,  Michael Forsythe ,  David D. Kirkpatrick and Jason Horowitz

• March 11, 2022

WASHINGTON — American officials are examining the ownership of a $700 million superyacht currently in a dry dock at an Italian seacoast town, and believe it could be associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, according to multiple people briefed on the information.

United States intelligence agencies have made no final conclusions about the ownership of the superyacht — called the Scheherazade — but American officials said they had found initial indications that it was linked to Mr. Putin. The information from the U.S. officials came after The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Italian authorities were looking into the 459-foot long vessel’s ownership and that a former crew member said it was for the use of Mr. Putin.

People briefed on the intelligence would not describe what information they had that indicated the superyacht is associated with Mr. Putin. If American officials know whether or how often Mr. Putin uses the yacht, the people briefed on the information would not share it.

American officials said Mr. Putin kept little of his wealth in his own name. Instead he uses homes and boats nominally owned by Russian oligarchs. Still, it is possible that through various shell companies, Mr. Putin could have more direct control of the Scheherazade.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic Mr. Putin has also spent large amounts of time in the Russian resort city of Sochi on the Black Sea, U.S. officials said. The Scheherazade made trips to Sochi in the summers of 2020 and 2021.

Both the Treasury Department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence are investigating the ownership of superyachts associated with Russian oligarchs. A spokesman for the Navy and a spokeswoman for the Treasury both declined to comment.

The Justice Department has set up a task force to go after the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs. In a discussion with reporters on Friday, a Justice Department official said the task force would be investigating individuals who help sanctioned Russian officials or oligarchs hide their assets. Those individuals could face charges related to sanctions violations or international money laundering charges.

In addition, under recently published Commerce Department rule changes, if more than 25 percent of a plane or a yacht is made of U.S.-manufactured airplane or marine parts, it cannot go to Russia.

If a yacht is in a foreign country and meets the definition of a U.S.-origin or U.S.-made product, it would need a license to go to Russia. To actually seize a yacht, the United States would need to coordinate with a cooperative foreign government — Italy, in the case of the Scheherazade — to prevent the ship from moving to Russian waters.

Some superyachts moved out of European waters as the invasion of Ukraine began and the West began imposing sanctions allowing asset seizures. The Scheherazade is undergoing repairs in Marina di Carrara, a port in Tuscany, and as of earlier this week was in dry dock, unable to get underway.

Guy Bennett-Pearce, the Scheherazade’s captain, said earlier this week that Mr. Putin was not the owner of the superyacht and that the Russian president had not set foot on it.

He declined to give the name of the owner, saying on Monday only that it was not anyone facing sanctions. Captain Bennett-Pearce did not answer his phone on Friday or respond to a text message.

Last week, Italian authorities boarded the Scheherazade and examined certification documents, seeking to learn more about the vessel’s ownership. Captain Bennett-Pearce said earlier this week that he would provide the Italian police with documents that divulged the yacht’s owner.

Italian authorities said they were taking a deep look at the Scheherazade. Under a process that may take as long as a couple of weeks, Italy’s financial police will gather evidence and present it to a government committee, which will then decide whether ownership or use of the ship is connected to someone on the sanctions list.

That connection could be outright ownership of a significant portion of the ship, or evidence that a friend, underling or associate lent his or her name to hide the sanctioned person’s ownership, or that funds used to buy the ship came from illegal profits. If the committee finds that the evidence meets the threshold, the financial police can impound the Scheherazade.

The Italian Sea Group , which owns the shipyard where the Scheherazade is dry-docked, said in a statement on Thursday that based on documents it had and “checks carried out by the relevant authorities,” the Scheherazade “is not attributable to the property of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

American officials have been stepping up their examination of the superyachts of Russian oligarchs, particularly as the United States and Europe have imposed more sanctions against the wealthy families that support Mr. Putin.

The German-built Scheherazade has been in service since June 2020. The website SuperYachtFan estimated that it cost $700 million. The ship has a full-size gym, two helicopter decks and gold-plated fixtures in the washrooms.

While American intelligence officials have been looking at the Scheherazade, the scrutiny has increased after the publication of the earlier article in The Times.

The Scheherazade appears to have a sister ship, the Crescent , built by the same German manufacturer and put into service in 2018. The Crescent’s project name when it was under construction was “ Thunder. ” The Scheherazade’s was “ Lightning .”

Like the Scheherazade, there is no public information identifying the ship’s owner, other than an offshore shell company. The Crescent last broadcast its position on Nov. 2, when it appeared to be approaching Barcelona, Spain. Satellite images show that as of March 4 it was moored at a marina catering to superyachts near there. Both vessels are registered in the Cayman Islands and both share the same designer .

Katie Benner contributed reporting from Washington, Christoph Koettl from New York, and Gaia Pianigiani from Siena, Italy.

Julian E. Barnes is a national security reporter based in Washington, covering the intelligence agencies. Before joining The Times in 2018, he wrote about security matters for The Wall Street Journal. More about Julian E. Barnes

Michael Forsythe is a reporter on the investigations team. He was previously a correspondent in Hong Kong, covering the intersection of money and politics in China. He has also worked at Bloomberg News and is a United States Navy veteran. More about Michael Forsythe

David D. Kirkpatrick is an investigative reporter based in New York and the author of “Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East.“ In 2020 he shared a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on covert Russian interference in other governments and as the Cairo bureau chief from 2011 to 2015 he led coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings. More about David D. Kirkpatrick

Jason Horowitz is the Rome bureau chief, covering Italy, the Vatican, Greece and other parts of Southern Europe. He previously covered the 2016 presidential campaign, the Obama administration and Congress, with an emphasis on political profiles and features. More about Jason Horowitz

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International Edition

How can a $700 million superyacht sitting in an Italian port ‘belong to no one’? Russian sleuths say it’s Putin’s

In the legend of Tales From the Thousand and One Nights , Scheherazade is a beautiful virgin who escapes being murdered by the king by telling him stories at night.

Scheherazade is also President Vladimir Putin’s $700 million superyacht, according to Russian investigative journalists—and its ability to survive being seized by Western governments will require far more cunning than storytelling.

The yacht, currently moored in the Marina di Carrara on Italy’s Tuscany coast, is gargantuan, even by the outsize dimensions of Russian oligarchs’ superyachts. At about 459 feet long , it has six levels of decks, two helipads with a hidden helicopter hangar, a spa, huge living room and dining room, a swimming pool and three saunas, as well as an upper-level “owner’s area” that includes its own private spa.

“Belongs to no one”

For weeks, there have been questions about who owns the superyacht, which is registered in the Cayman Islands through a shell company. But on Monday, the group headed by jailed Russian activist Alexis Navalny claimed in a YouTube video that the vessel belongs to Putin himself.

“On paper, it belongs to no one, and sits quietly in an Italian port,” the video says in Russian. “Watch the video, and you will find out how Putin owns this yacht through figureheads, and how we can take this yacht away from him.”

The group obtained the all-Russian crew list for the yacht, and found that almost all of them were employed by Putin’s security detail, the Federal Protective Service, known by its Russian acronym FSO.

Earlier this month, the Scheherazade’ s British captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, told the New York Times he was under “a watertight nondisclosure agreement” about who the superyacht’s true owners were, but claimed he had never seen Putin on board.

But Navalny’s group says the crew’s employment status suggests that the Russian leader owns the vessel. If that hunch is correct, it would be subject to immediate seizure under U.S., U.K., and European Union sanctions.

Superyachts have been one of the most visible signs of Russian oligarchs’ mammoth wealth—and, recently, one of the most often seized. French police seized a $120 million vessel allegedly owned by Igor Sechin, head of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, on the Mediterranean coast earlier this month . Spanish officials impounded  two more yachts, including the Crescent , a 443-foot superyacht also thought to belong to Sechin.

Another boat, owned by former KGB agent Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, was stranded in Norway when no one would sell it fuel. And on Monday, the 460-foot superyacht Solaris , owned by the sanctioned billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich, was spotted parked in the harbor of Bodrum, Turkey; that country has not implemented sanctions.

Putin’s $200 billion

Western governments face a daunting task in tracking down Putin’s true wealth, which could amount to some $200 billion, according to financier Bill Browder, who told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 2017 that Putin’s inner circle of oligarchs split their billions 50-50 with the Russian president. The assets include a $1.3 billion mansion on the Black Sea, funded through a Russian health project in which Putin allies were vastly overpaid for medical supplies.

The Scheherazade , in fact, might not be Putin’s only superyacht. Last month, the vessel Graceful made a hurried departure from its berth in Hamburg as the EU was drafting tough new sanctions just days before Putin sent Russian tanks into Ukraine. Believed to be linked to Putin, that superyacht is thought to be worth $100 million .  

But untangling ownership details, and pinpointing them to Putin, will be immensely complicated.

In that, Navalny’s team has joined forces with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, or OCCRP, a Sarajevo-based group of investigative journalists, to create a database of oligarch wealth. It publishes its “ Russian Asset Tracker” in Russian , English, and Spanish.

The journalists say they are focusing on “a new generation of wealthy men obedient to Putin”—many of whom are now under Western sanctions and whose funds Western governments believe are crucial to funding the Ukraine war. The database lists mansions, superyachts, private planes, and other property, so far totaling about $17.5 billion. The group is sure that will grow, and invites people to send details of “anything we’ve missed.”

“Figuring out who owns what, and how much of it, is a tall order even for experienced police investigators,” the journalists say. “We decided to follow the trail.”

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Satellite image shows super yacht linked to Putin out of reach of sanctions

By Catherine Herridge , Michael Kaplan, Andrew Bast, Jessica Kegu

March 3, 2022 / 7:30 AM EST / CBS News

As Europe and the U.S. bear down with a raft of aggressive sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, the super yacht he is believed to own has found safe harbor in a highly militarized port in Russian territorial waters. In new satellite imagery obtained by CBS News, the yacht can be seen docked in a port in Kaliningrad, near Russia's nuclear weapons operations. 

Experts say Putin's luxury vessel has become a symbol not only of his vast hidden wealth, but also of how challenging that money has been to find. 

"He's a KGB agent, so he's crafty. He knows how to hide when he needs to," said John Smith, former director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces all foreign sanctions.

Data from MarineTraffic, a global intelligence group, shows Putin's alleged yacht, the Graceful, left Germany two weeks before the invasion of Ukraine . 

Putin's government salary is said to be about $140,000, but that doesn't begin to explain the mansions, million-dollar watch collection and over-the-top yacht. 

"It would be fair to say he's among the richest men in the world," Smith said. 

Though he sells himself as a man of the people, his wealth is estimated to be more than $100 billion. 

Putin's critics allege he also has a cliffside palace that includes an amphitheater and a personal tunnel to the beach that doubles as a security bunker. 

"Of course, he doesn't acknowledge it as being his own," Smith said. "It doesn't fit with the public persona that he's trying to create to actually acknowledge it." 

Putin relies on his oligarch friends to shield his fortune from sanctions, Smith said. 

"So if he asked them to do something, they do it in terms of hiding assets, squirreling them in different parts of the globe, they will do what he needs," he said. 

Those who have tried to expose Putin's fortune have done so at great personal risk. 

Putin critic Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on a bridge in the shadow of the Kremlin in 2015. Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 under questionable circumstances in prison after he exposed $230 million in fraud by Putin's friends. Putin publicly condemned Nemtsov's murder and claimed Magnitsky died of a heart attack.  

His most recent No. 1 critic, Alexei Navalny , who helped expose Putin's lavish palace, emerged as a political rival and found himself repeatedly jailed. He nearly died after being poisoned two years ago, though Putin has denied responsibility for the poisoning. 

"Putin's wealth is one of the most dangerous topics," said Russian journalist Roman Badanin, who spent two decades investigating Putin's financial web. 

Badanin said Russian authorities sought to intimidate and silence his reporting team. Six months ago, he reached his breaking point. 

"I fled the country. My apartment was searched twice. I have like three criminal charges against me back in Russia," he said. 

In his State of the Union address, President Biden said the U.S. and its allies are waging economic war on Putin and Russian oligarchs. 

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments and your private jets," Biden said. 

On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced the formation of a new task force that would target Russian oligarchs. 

"Russia is not a transparent economy," Smith said. "The U.S. and our allies have decent information on some of [Putin's] assets, I think a lot will remain a mystery for a long time in the future." 

The biggest financial hit for Putin would be sanctions on the energy sector, which Smith says the Russian president has used to build up his wealth for years. So far, Washington and the Europeans have been hesitant to do that. 

• Vladimir Putin

Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News covering national security and intelligence based in Washington, D.C.

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Russian opposition group report says it's identified another superyacht belonging to Vladimir Putin

• A Russian military plant built Vladimir Putin a 71-meter superyacht, according to a new report.
• The report was written by the Dossier Center, a Russian opposition group funded by an exiled oligarch.
• Putin's rumored mistress often uses the yacht on vacation, according to the report.

Vladimir Putin's newest known superyacht is 71 meters long, cost an estimated $50 million to build, and can carry up to 28 people, according to a new report from Russian opposition group the Dossier Center.

The vessel, called the Victoria, is based in Sochi but in October docked at a Turkish port near Istanbul for repairs, according to ship tracking data cited in the report. Construction on the yacht began in 2005 at a Russian military facility that typically produces nuclear submarines, according to the report, citing unnamed sources close to Putin.

Related stories

The Dossier Center, an investigative outlet funded by exiled petroleum oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky – by some estimates, once the richest man in Russia – last month revealed that Russia had accidentally doxed its own spies by uploading their addresses onto a public city hall website.

We found the secret yacht of Vladimir Putin docked at a naval shipyard of a NATO (!) country. How is this possible and what does it tell us about the character of his regime? 🧵 Read on to find out (and see pictures) - 1/18 pic.twitter.com/RhIzjmFbz3 — Mikhail Khodorkovsky (@khodorkovsky_en) November 22, 2023

Officially, Putin takes a salary of about $140,000 a year and lives in a small Moscow apartment – but extensive reporting shows the dictator almost certainly controls numerous estates and a small flotilla of luxury yachts . While there's no official estimate of his net worth, observers have pegged it in the tens of billions of dollars.

After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, authorities seized a $700 million superyacht linked to Putin with six floors, two helipads, a swimming pool , a beauty salon, and gold-plated bathrooms.

Victoria is nowhere near as grand. It has just two master cabins, according to the Dossier Center's report. But it also has the distinction of being linked to former Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva, rumored to be Putin's mistress and the father of his children.

Given how it looks like from inside – who wouldn't be tempted? 15/18 pic.twitter.com/pCCQ6YLqKd — Mikhail Khodorkovsky (@khodorkovsky_en) November 22, 2023

Kabaeva's friend, another Russian gymnast and the choreography director of a gymnastics festival Kabaeva organizes, posted a photo of herself on social media with the yacht in the background. And an anonymous source told The Dossier Center that Kabaeva often vacations on the Victoria.

Spokespeople for the Russian president and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Watch: Inside Putin's secret bunker and billion-dollar palace

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$700m superyacht docked in Italy may belong to Putin, say US officials

459ft vessel currently in italian dry dock for repairs, article bookmarked.

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A $700m superyacht being repaired in an Italian dry dock may belong to Vladimir Putin , according to US intelligence officials.

The ownership of the 459ft Scheherazade has come under close scrutiny since Russia ’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine , and the vessel could be associated with Mr Putin, intelligence officials told The New York Times .

American officials told the newspaper that no final conclusions on ownership have been made, but the link backs up a claim made by a former crew member that it was for Mr Putin’s use.

The officials say that Mr Putin keeps little of his personal wealth in his own name, instead using homes and boats that are held in the name of Russian oligarchs.

Mr Putin spent long periods during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Black Sea city of Sochi, where the Scheherazade made trips in the summers of 2020 and 2021, the officials added.

The Biden administration is investigating ownership of super yachts associated with Russian oligarchs as part of the enormous sanctions levied on Russia.

The yacht is currently undergoing repairs in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara.

Guy Bennett-Pearce, the Scheherazade’s captain, has denied that Mr Putin owns the yacht, or has even has put a foot onboard it.

If the US government wanted to seize the yacht out would need the help of the Italian government before it left for Russian waters.

Following US and European Union sanctions against Russia, officials impounded a 213ft yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Imperia, Italy and Igor Sechin’s 280-foot yacht in the French port of La Ciotat.

Under US and most European laws, the frozen assets remain owned by the oligarch but cannot be transferred or sold.

Both men will continue to own their yachts but will be prevented by authorities from moving them to pro-Russian locations.

To seize a yacht government prosecutors would have to prove that the property was part of a crime.

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Inside Vladimir Putin’s $932 million super yacht, complete with dance floor pool and gold toilet paper holders

Vladimir Putin has spared no expense on his alleged $932 million superyacht, which comes complete with its own dance floor pool and golden toilet paper holders.

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This yacht makes a Bond villain’s boat look like a dinghy.

Vladimir Putin, whose forces continue to attack Ukraine, spared no expense on his alleged $932 million superyacht, which comes complete with its own dance floor — and even golden toilet paper holders, according to The Sun.

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Rumours that the boat belonged to him have been swirling since its construction; however, anti-Kremlin activists recently claimed that it is indeed Putin’s.

See all the images inside the yacht at The Sun

“It’s like a mini city,” an unnamed worker reportedly involved in its construction told the Sun of the 150m-long luxury vessel, which is moored in Marina di Carrara in Italy.

“There are countless swimming pools, a spa, a sauna, a theatre, ballrooms, a gym, two helipads.”

Known as Scheherazade — after the iconic Persian queen from literature — the opulent watercraft was reportedly first estimated at £500 million (AU$872 million), although sources told The Sun the price may be closer to £750 million (AU$1.3 billion).

It appears that Putin put his money where his boat is: Photos obtained by the Sun show the veritable maritime mansion and its six floors of swanky amenities.

They include a 5m-wide aquarium, multiple TVs — including a 4.6m beast spanning an entire wall — and a self-levelling pool table so that guests can play even when the sea turns turbulent.

There are also bathrooms outfitted with King Midas-evoking gold taps and toilet paper holders, plus a tile dance floor that converts into a pool.

Scheherazade is thought to be one of only two ships in the world with that feature, the Sun reported; the other is Putin’s second yacht, Graceful.

Along with standard bling, the Russian president decked out the superyacht with personal touches, including a judo room with framed pictures of black belts, plus various books showcasing the autocrat’s worship of wealth.

“Every surface is either marble or gold,” an unnamed boatbuilder told the Sun of the glitzy vessel, which the worker finds especially obscene in light of current events.

The ritzy ship isn’t just built for pleasure cruises. Much like the bad guy’s superyacht in the movie “Thunderball,” Scheherazade can supposedly transform from a party boat to a battleship in a flash with a state-of-the-art security system reportedly capable of shooting down drones.

If that wasn’t ostentatious enough, the super yacht-aircraft-carrier also contains two helipads and a hangar than can house a helicopter, six jet skis, five dinghies and eight Seabob underwater scooters.

Scheherazade was built over two years ago. However, the vessel’s alleged ties to Putin came to light recently after activists affiliated with jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny claimed that some of the crew members worked for the Federal Security Service, which handles the Russian leader’s security.

“A dozen of Vladimir Putin’s personal guards and servants are constantly maintaining one of the world’s largest yachts docked in an Italian port,” investigative journalist and Navalny ally Maria Pevchikh wrote on Twitter .

See all the images inside the yacht at The Sun .

This story first appeared in The Post and was republished with permission.

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This yacht makes a Bond villain’s boat look like a dinghy.

Vladimir Putin, whose forces continue to attack Ukraine , spared no expense on his alleged $700 million superyacht, which comes complete with its own dance floor — and even golden toilet paper holders. Rumors that the boat belonged to him have been swirling since its construction; however, anti-Kremlin activists recently claimed that it is indeed Putin’s .

“It’s like a mini city,” an unnamed worker reportedly involved in its construction told the Sun of the 495-foot luxury vessel, which is moored in Marina di Carrara in Italy. “There are countless swimming pools, a spa, a sauna, a theatre, ballrooms, a gym, two helipads.” 

Known as Scheherazade — after the iconic Persian queen from literature — the opulent watercraft was reportedly estimated at £500 million ($6.6 million), although insider sources price it closer to £750 million ($990 million).

And it appears that Putin put his money where his boat is: Photos obtained by the Sun show the veritable maritime mansion and its six floors of swanky amenities. They include a 16-foot aquarium, multiple televisions — including a 15-foot beast spanning an entire wall — and a self-leveling pool table so that guests can play even when the sea turns turbulent.

There are also bathrooms outfitted with King Midas-evoking gold taps and toilet paper holders, plus a tile dance floor that converts into a pool. Scheherazade is thought to be one of only two ships in the world with that feature, the Sun reported; the other is Putin’s second yacht, Graceful.

Along with standard bling, the Russian president decked out the superyacht with personal touches, including a judo room with framed pictures of black belts, plus various books showcasing the autocrat’s worship of wealth.

“Every surface is either marble or gold,” an unnamed boatbuilder told the Sun of the glitzy vessel, which the worker finds especially obscene in light of current events.

“It is hard to swallow the fact that the most incredible ship in the world is owned by a man intent on bombing civilians in Ukraine,” he continued. “And it is an unimaginable amount of wealth when the average Russian’s salary is £5,000 a year, and people there are struggling to eat.”

The ritzy ship isn’t just built for pleasure cruises. Much like the baddie’s superyacht in the movie “Thunderball,” Scheherazade can supposedly transform from a party boat to a battleship in a flash with a state-of-the-art security system reportedly capable of shooting down drones.

If that wasn’t ostentatious enough, the superyacht-cum-aircraft-carrier also contains two helipads and a hangar than can house a helicopter, six Jet Skis, five dinghies and eight Seabob underwater scooters.

Scheherazade was built over two years ago. However, the vessel’s alleged ties to Putin came to light recently after activists affiliated with jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny claimed that some of the crewmembers worked for the Federal Security Service, which handles the Russian leader’s security.

“To sum up, a dozen of Vladimir Putin’s personal guards and servants are constantly maintaining one of the world’s largest yachts docked in an Italian port,” investigative journalist and Navalny ally Maria Pevchikh wrote on Twitter Monday.

Meanwhile, during a Tuesday address to the Italian parliament, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky implored Italy to confiscate the assets of Putin and his supporters, who he claimed frequently traveled to Italy, the Guardian reported .

“Don’t be a resort for murderers,” he said, urging Italian authorities to seize every yacht “from the Scheherazade to the smallest ones.”

The ship is currently being investigated by authorities for potential ties to sanctioned Russians.

See the full set of image at The Sun

Despite the accusations, the Scheherazade’s British captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, has denied that Putin has ever owned or even set foot on the vessel.

“I have never seen him. I have never met him,”  he told the New York Times , adding that the vessel’s owner was not on any sanctions list.

Earlier in March, Italian officials seized several superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs, including Alexey Mordashov’s 213-foot vessel , Gennady Timchenko’s 132-foot watercraft and Audrey Melnichenko’s $578 million, 469-foot superyacht.

The seizures are among the latest efforts to hit Putin and those close to him over Russia’s brutal assault against Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24. 

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Putin's superyachts targeted in latest round of U.S. sanctions

The White House announced a new round of sanctions Thursday against Russia over its assault on Ukraine , which include targeting four yachts linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Treasury Department said Putin has taken numerous trips on two of the yachts, the Russia-flagged Graceful and the Cayman Islands-flagged Olympia, "including a 2021 trip in the Black Sea where he was joined by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the OFAC-designated corrupt ruler of Belarus, who has supported Russia’s war against Ukraine." (OFAC is the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.) 

The Treasury Department also identified two other yachts it said are linked to Putin — the Shellest and the Nega. "Shellest periodically travels to the coast where President Putin’s infamous Black Sea Palace is located, and President Putin uses Nega for travel in Russia’s North," the agency said in a news release.

The U.S. first sanctioned Putin in February. Some experts have  estimated  that his net worth is in the tens of billions; he has buried his wealth behind numerous shell companies, making it  difficult  to locate and freeze his assets. The Treasury Department said Thursday that the Olympia and the Graceful are owned by a company owned by the Russian government, while the Shellest and the Nega are owned by a Russian company.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new sanctions were designed "to degrade the networks allowing Russia’s elites, including President Putin, to anonymously make use of luxury assets around the globe."

As part of the effort, the U.S. sanctioned Imperial Yachts SARL, a yacht brokerage it said is aligned with the Kremlin and provides "yacht-related services to Russia’s elites, including those in President Putin’s inner circle."

"When not in use by their owners, superyachts can be offered for charter through businesses such as Imperial Yachts, generating income for the owners, who are in some cases Russia’s oligarchs," the Treasury Department said.

In a statement Thursday, Imperial Yachts called the accusations "false" and said it "will pursue all available legal remedies to resolve this matter promptly."

"We are not involved in our clients’ financial affairs,” the company said.

The Treasury Department took aim at Putin allies, as well, including business leaders and government officials. Sergei Pavlovich Roldugin , whom the Treasury Department identified as a close friend of Putin's who helps manage his offshore wealth, was sanctioned, as was Yury Slyusar, the president of a state-owned company that is a major aircraft supplier for the Russian military.

The sanctions also targeted yachts and luxury aircraft belonging to other oligarchs, including a yacht called the Sea Rhapsody and a jet that have been linked to Andrei Kostin , the previously sanctioned head of Russia's VTB Bank.

Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch, a billionaire member of the Russian Duma who was also previously sanctioned , has been linked to a Cayman Islands-flagged yacht called the Madame Gu, a helicopter housed on the yacht and a private plane. The Treasury Department said that the 324-foot Madame Gu is valued at $156 million and that it "includes an elevator, beach club, gym, and requires significant maintenance and repair, including approximately $1 million for painting annually."

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.

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Vladimir Putin and His OTT Superyacht Collection

Vladimir Putin is one of the most polarising political figures in the world. Love him, or hate him, he has a stronghold over the Russian political system and is therefore likely to be in the public consciousness for many years to come. He has accumulated a massive estimated fortune of $70-200 billion and has made sure to spend it on what matters: building his own superyacht fleet (because one isn’t enough, apparently). Read on to find out all about the boats that make up his $150 million collection.

The Graceful

The Graceful is both the largest and most expensive yacht in Putin’s current collection. It was built by Sevmash in Russia before heading to Germany for outfitting by  Blohm + Voss  in 2014. The Graceful was then sold to the billionaire for a staggering $100 million. If you thought the outright cost was outrageous, wait until you hear its annual running costs ($5-10 million every year). The Graceful is a sleek and stylish steel/aluminium ship that features good looking design by  H2 . The yacht is a party palace, with space to accommodate up to 14 guests and a 15×10 foot dance floor to keep visitors entertained. When the dance floor is not in use, it handily transforms into a luxurious indoor pool.  

Chayka, which means ‘The Seagull’ in English, is the next superyacht belonging to Vladimir Putin. The 54m vessel was built in 2009 by the Turkish shipyard Turquoise Yachts. Two years later, after chartering the vessel, Putin decided to buy it for the Russian Presidential Administration. Chayka was purchased to host formal events and meetings between political figures. With a swimming pool, jacuzzi, gym and beach club as well as a 100sqm dining room, it certainly can’t be the worst place to go on a business trip. The superyacht is estimated to be worth $34-45 million.

The Olympia

The third superyacht owned by the Russian President (and apparently his personal favourite) is The Olympia. Built in 2002 by renowned Dutch shipbuilder  Feadship , the 57m vessel features interior design by Mark Hampton and John Gallagher. Not very much is known about this vessel, just that it is rumoured to have been a gift from Roman Abramovich to Putin. If the rumours are true, the vessel, which has an estimated cost of $35-50 million, surely has to be one of the most extravagant gifts ever given.

The final yacht owned by Vladimir Putin is the somewhat more humble Petrel, which measures 35m in length. Unfortunately, Petrel remains mysterious, with very little information available. We know that Petrel has a maximum speed of 14 knots and a cruising speed of 10 knots. The elegantly decorated cabins with private balconies can house 16 guests comfortably and 12 crew members. Whilst the price of the vessel is unknown, a similar model is known to have sold at $16.8 million, so a price tag in this region is likely.

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$700 Million Super Yacht, 58 Planes: Expensive Things Owned By Vladimir Putin

Vladimir putin is believed to be the world's richest man. the ceo of a wealth management company claimed putins personal wealth is $200 billion..

Reports say Russian President Vladimir Putin is the world's richest man.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine shocked the world and led to one of the biggest humanitarian crises since the Second World War. It also brought to the centre one of the most influential figures in international politics: Vladimir Putin .

He has been at the helm of affairs in Russia for decades on whom the West has always kept a watchful eye. But his decision to start a war in Ukraine, especially in 21st century, even surprised some of the seasoned diplomats and policy makers.

Putin has always intrigued the world with his personality, and his past as a KGB officer. Here, we take a look at his lifestyle.

Officially, the Kremlin has mentioned that Putin earns an annual salary of $140,000, according to Fortune . His publicly declared assets include an 800-square foot apartment, a trailer and three cars, the report further said.

But he is often believed to be the world's richest man. Investment and asset management company Hermitage Capital Management claimed in 2017 that Putin's personal wealth is $200 billion. The claim was made by the company's CEO Bill Browder before a Judiciary Committee of the US Senate.

His comments about Putin and Russia are taken seriously as Browder was a major investor in Russia during the 1990s.

The claims about the Russian President's ridiculous amount of money keep doing the rounds due to the lifestyle that he leads. Putin is seen wearing luxury watches, like Patek Philippe's Perpetual Calendar worth $60,000 and a $500,000 A Lange & Sohne Toubograph, according to Fortune .

Ten years ago, ABC News carried a report based on a video released by Russian opposition group Solidarity, in which it said that Putin owns luxury watches worth $700,000 - about six times his official salary.

Putin is also believed to be the owner of a swanky 190,000 square-foot mansion sitting atop a cliff that overlooks the Black Sea. The description of the property, carried by many news publications, say it has frescoed ceilings, a marble swimming pool lined with statues of Greek gods, spas, an amphitheater, a state-of-the-art ice hockey rink, a Vegas-style casino and a nightclub. If that is not enough, the mansion also has a barroom showcasing wine and spirits worth hundreds of dollars.

The pictures of the opulent mansion have been released by Russian opposition leaders in the past, who call it "Putin's Country Cottage". The photos claim to show $500,000 dining room furniture, a $54,000 bar table, decked-out bathrooms with fancy $850 Italian toilet brushes and $1,250 toilet paper holders. But in January this year, Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg said he is the owner of the mansion, not Putin, according to the BBC .

Apart from reports about the Black Sea mansion, the 69-year-old Russian President also rumoured to be the owner of 19 other houses, 700 cars, 58 aircraft and helicopters . One of these planes - "The Flying Kremlin" - is built at a cost of $716 million and has a toilet made of gold.

On Tuesday, The Guardian carried a piece which had a photo of a 140-metre-long, six-floor super yacht in Italy, also believed to be owned by Putin. The Scheherazade, said to be worth $700m, is docked in a shipyard in Marina di Carrara, a town on Italy's Tuscan coast. The Guardian report said that the vessel is equipped with a spa, swimming pools, two helipads, a wood-burning fireplace and a pool table designed to tilt so as to reduce the impact of the waves.

In an address to the Italian Parliament on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Italy to seize the yacht.

Despite enormous wealth, Putin not sanctioned by West

Days after the Ukraine invasion was launched, western countries froze the assets of Russia's elite, including those close to Putin, and imposed travel bans on them. But, the Russian President was spared.

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According to The New York Times , this was done on the insistence of European countries like Germany who wanted communication channels to remain open with Russia's top leadership.

New agency Reuters carried a report in January, which quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that personal sanctions against Putin would be "politically destructive" and akin to severing diplomatic relations.

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Ridiculously Expensive Things Vladimir Putin Owns

Posted: June 29, 2024 | Last updated: June 29, 2024

Top 10 Ridiculously Expensive Things Vladimir PUTIN OwnsSubscribe to Top 10s ► <a href="https://goo.gl/zvGBHeDescription:Charlie">https://goo.gl/zvGBHeDescription:Charlie</a> from Top 10s counts down the top 10 Ridiculously Expensive Things Vladimir PUTIN Owns! We all know Vladimir V Putin of Russia, but what is his real net worth and how does he live? Many say he is a billionaire due to his stocks and business but Putin owns some very expensive and lavish luxury items from houses, mansions, palaces, yachts, boats, helicopters and cars! Putin even has a plane with a golden toilet! So here is a tour of the rich Vlad who may be the richest man and person in the world!For issues or inquires please email [email protected] or message via YouTube.Subscribe to TheCrafty ► <a href="https://goo.gl/o6HN3ESocial">https://goo.gl/o6HN3ESocial</a> media:Subscribe ► <a href="https://goo.gl/zvGBHeTwitter">https://goo.gl/zvGBHeTwitter</a> ► <a href="https://goo.gl/VGwAQFInstagram">https://goo.gl/VGwAQFInstagram</a> ► <a href="https://goo.gl/9xUb4mSnapchat">https://goo.gl/9xUb4mSnapchat</a> ► <a href="https://goo.gl/TDvT5eFacebook">https://goo.gl/TDvT5eFacebook</a> ► <a href="https://goo.gl/UTMgnZGoogle+">https://goo.gl/UTMgnZGoogle+</a> ► <a href="https://goo.gl/KhVsytIntro">https://goo.gl/KhVsytIntro</a> music: MRVLZ - Never <a href="https://youtu.be/MQ1gKOIASs8Footage:videvo.net">https://youtu.be/MQ1gKOIASs8Footage:videvo.net</a>

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