In the wake of the brutal sanctions smacked against Russia by the West in an attempt to staunch Vladimir Putin’s heinous, senseless war against Ukraine, numerous assets, including superyachts and private jet planes, belonging to Russian billionaires and oligarchs have been the epicenter of repercussions as they face down freezes and seizures.
We’re reported a few times now of the billionaires’ efforts to try to save and protect their assets — such as one oligarch ordering his boat to be moved to Turkey “immediately” and another superyacht that’s mysteriously vanished amid the sanctions.
Now, according to a new report from the New York Times, it looks as though the Russian dictator himself may be making similar moves with his own assets as the West continues to crack down harder and harder. Per the report, United States authorities now believe that a $700 million superyacht that’s currently docked in Italy could very likely belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing several people that have been briefed on the situation in their report.
The superyacht, dubbed the Scheherazade, is currently docked on the Tuscan coast of Italy, and the Times reports that the vessel first raised questions when Italian authorities were examining the 459-foot-long boat.
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It was believed that the vessel could possibly belong to a Russian oligarch, the report notes that the superyacht was dubbed “Putin’s yacht” by area locals.
The Times notes that US officials have not confirmed who the yacht belongs to, or if it belongs to the Russian president, but they did discover initial indications that the Scheherazade was at least associated with Vladimir Putin. The publication notes that the sources with knowledge on the matter would not reveal what those indicators were that led officials to believe that the yacht is associated with the Russian dictator.
Guy Bennett-Pearce, the captain of the massive vessel, spoke with reporters earlier this week and denied that the boat belonged to Putin, or that the Russian dictatorial leader had ever even set foot on the yacht. However, he did not rule out the possibility of the vessel belonging to a Russian owner.
The United States and other countries continue to strengthen harsh sanctions against Russia in an effort to cut off funding for Putin’s war.
You can read the full report from the New York Times here.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/The Presidential Press and Information Office, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
