There has been a bit of activity among a small fleet of superyachts recently. One, Scheherazade, was impounded by Italian authorities in May 2022 under suspicion that it was owned by Vladimir Putin. This was part of a sanctions package instituted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier the same year. Determining ownership is difficult because such yachts are registered through a complex of shell companies, offshore trusts and proxy owners. The Scheherazade is 140 metres long, has six decks, and is reportedly valued at about US$700 million. At the time of seizure it was supposedly owned by Eduard Khudainatov, the former chief of Russian energy giant Rosneft, who was not then, but currently is, a target of European Union sanctions1. The yacht is still impounded in Italy. The Anti-Corruption Foundation, a Russian watchdog group which publishes research into Russian government officials’ alleged illicit behavior, claims the owner is Putin2.
The Graceful, an 82 metre yacht also linked to Vladimir Putin and valued at up to $120 million, was spotted off Denmark’s coast heading toward Istanbul. The vessel had been off public tracking systems since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The yacht’s sudden appearance comes amid heightened Kremlin security measures and geopolitical tensions, including NATO warnings of potential Russian aggression against the Baltic states3. In its journey through NATO waters it was escorted by a Russian destroyer, Severomorsk, and a patrol vessel, Voevoda, and signals a possible strategic relocation of assets. The move also coincides with increased personal security for Putin. The Russian convoy was being shadowed by Danish and German patrol vessels4.
Yet another superyacht, the 71 metre Victoria has also been spotted heading to Turkey from the Russian Krasnodar Krai coast of the Black Sea5. The yacht transited the Bosphorus Strait on the morning of June 28, anchoring briefly in Istanbul’s Pendik district before proceeding toward the prestigious Aegean resort city of Bodrum. While the Victoria is formally valued at approximately $30 million and registered to corporate structures belonging to billionaire oligarch Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Putin, investigative reports have revealed the vessel is actively used by Putin’s immediate circle6.
Lastly, there is the Olympia, a 57 metre yacht reportedly given to Putin in 2005 by the oligarch Roman Abramovich. It is the only yacht of the four remaining in St Petersburg7. There are also several other yachts linked to Putin, but those listed above are the most notable8.
Why the secrecy? Because Putin officially reports only a modest state salary and basic real estate assets, so his name is never directly on the registration documents for these yachts. Instead, they are supposedly owned by friends or high-ranking loyalists who act as fronts. Furthermore, many of these vessels had their tracking systems deliberately shut off to evade international sanctions following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Some of them have been moved out of range of Ukrainian drones.
While the desire to get them out of range of Ukrainian targeting seems to be a reasonable explanation for their recent travels, it is enticing to think that they may be positioned so Putin can blow through from the mess he has created with his misadventure in Ukraine. This may be a race against his defenestration, a demise suffered by so many of his former colleagues.
Sources
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-07/italy-seizes-superyacht-scheherazade-russian-government/101046540
- https://megayachtnews.com/2026/01/seized-russian-owned-yachts/
- https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/insight/putin-s-120m-superyacht-sails-past-denmark-with-warship-escort/gm-GM9460E4CA
- https://www.superyachttimes.com/yacht-news/putin-yacht-graceful-ais-in-denmark
- https://ua.news/en/world/superiakhta-victoria-poviazana-z-putinim-priamuie-do-turetskogo-kurortu-bodrum
- https://united24media.com/world/another-putin-linked-superyacht-sails-to-turkey-following-gracefuls-voyage-20318
- https://war-sanctions.gur.gov.ua/en/transport/ships/176
- https://www.kyivpost.com/post/24431
Very interesting. Amazing the sheer number of such … floating palaces. Howard Hughes once said he could only sleep in one bed at a time. That was … long ago.