According to a rather interesting report from the Wall Street Journal, one Russian oligarch and billionaire, who’s been referred to as Vladimir Putin’s “Darth Vader,” found out that he had been hit with the sanctions that rained hellfire down on Russia after Putin’s violent invasion and attack against Ukraine and immediately ordered the captain of his now-seized superyacht to depart a French port and sail to Turkey as fast as possible.
Igor Sechin, who is reportedly a close friend of the violent Russian dictatorial president, was personally on the sanctions list in the United States and European Union directly following Putin’s declaration of war against the country of Ukraine and its people.
Sechin’s demands pointedly highlight the moves enacted by many of Russia’s wealthiest upon discovering that they had been personally targeted by the sanctions numerous countries enacted as punishment for Putin’s senseless war. Multiple Russian oligarchs and billionaires scrambled to relocate their yachts and private jets in a desperate effort to protect their assets from the repercussions of Putin’s rash, violent decision.
According to reporting one of the lead officers on the seizure operation, Eric Salles, gave an interview to The Journal and revealed that French customs was able to determine last week that the yacht was preparing to depart the French town of La Ciotat despite a schedule indicating that it was set to have repair work done soon. They were also able to determine that the yacht did, in fact, belong to the CEO of Russian state-controlled oil giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin.
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Salles went on to explain that customs officers directly questioned the captain of the yacht, who told officers that despite the repair work that was scheduled on the boat, he had been directly instructed to instead leave the French port and “sail to Turkey as quickly as possible.”
This information led French authorities to tie the boat to the quay with steel-rope slings so that it could not leave the port, according to Salles. Officers then went on to surveil the yacht 24/7, while checking documents and further questioning the boat’s captain and crew. According to a press release that was tweeted by French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, after surveillance and further questioning, the Russian oligarch’s yacht was ultimately seized by authorities on Wednesday night.
Salles told The Journal that neither the boat’s captain nor crew members, all of which were still on the yacht at the time of seizure, were arrested in connection.
Sechin serves as just one of many high-profile Russian billionaires, oligarchs, and businessmen to have been directly and severely impacted by the sanctions enacted by the EU, US, UK, and other nations, due to their ties to Vladimir Putin.
According to a recent report from the Associated Press, close Putin confidant Gennady Timchenko, and Alexei Mordashov, who is reportedly the wealthiest man in Russia, had their superyachts seized by officials in Italy.
Featured image via Max Pixel Public Domain
