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Vladimir Putin’s Superyacht Graceful Has A New Name: “Killer Whale”

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Vladimir Putin's yacht Kosatka, formerly named Graceful, off the coast of Estonia on September 25.

The Russian president’s superyacht was spotted off the coast of Estonia, escorted by a Russian Coast Guard vessel.

Vladimir Putin’s second-largest superyacht is on the move. More than seven months after hastily departing Germany for the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, the Russian president’s $119 million, 267-foot Graceful was spotted off the coast of Estonia—with a new name.

Photos seen by Forbes that were taken on September 25 by Carl Groll, a contributing photographer for TheYachtPhoto.com, reveal that Graceful has a new name: Kosatka , Russian for “killer whale.” Forbes, which was tipped off by TheYachtPhoto.com’s managing director and longtime yacht watcher Peter Seyfferth, compared photos of Graceful available on yacht industry websites with the photo of Kosatka that appear to confirm the match.

The yacht was traveling northbound in the Baltic sea to the west of the Estonian island of Saaremaa; the pictures show it being escorted by an armed Russian Coast Guard vessel, possibly en route to St. Petersburg. It’s unclear when Graceful changed its name to Kosatka or when it departed Kaliningrad, a Russian territory sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland: the yacht’s transponder has been turned off since at least August 30, according to ship tracking service MarineTraffic, when it was still in Kaliningrad. A spokesperson for the Russian government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kosatka —then named Graceful —departed the German port of Hamburg on February 7, seventeen days before Russian troops invaded Ukraine. It left for Russia after a five-month refit at the shipyards of Blohm+Voss, the company that built the yacht in 2014. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Graceful —along with three other yachts linked to Putin—on June 2.

Kosatka moored at the port of Sochi, Russia in July 2015, when it was still named Graceful and before its refit in 2022.

Registered in Russia, Kosatka features an indoor swimming pool that turns into a theater and a dance floor, a helipad and suites for up to 12 guests. The ship also boasts pool towel storage cabinets that double as vodka bars and an owner's suite with a wine cave that can store up to 400 bottles; the yacht was delivered to "her closely-collaborating owner" in 2014, according to Lürssen, which owns Blohm+Voss.

According to a BBC News investigation published in March, the yacht is currently owned by Moscow-based JSC Argument, which the U.S. Treasury sanctioned along with its sole shareholder, Andrei Gasilov, on June 2. The BBC investigation found that JSC Argument had in the past agreed to a loan from one of the management companies involved in the construction of "Putin's Palace,” an opulent, 190,000-square-foot estate near the resort town of Gelendzhik on the Black Sea coast. JSC Argument did not respond to phone calls for comment from the BBC.

According to yacht valuation experts VesselsValue and reporting from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Graceful was previously owned by British Virgin Islands-based Olneil Assets Corp. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned a company in the Cayman Islands with a similar name—O’Neill Assets Corporation—on June 2, for "having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Vladimir Putin."

Besides Kosatka , Putin has been linked to at least five more yachts: the $507 million, 459-foot Scheherazade , which is technically owned by oil & gas billionaire Eduard Khudainatov but is believed to be held on behalf of Putin ; the $22 million, 187-foot Olympia ; the $18 million, 177-foot Chayka , which means “seagull” in Russian; the $17 million, 151-foot Shellest; and the 105-foot Nega. Olympia and Kosatka , then named Graceful , were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury on June 2 as “blocked property in which President Vladimir Putin has an interest” while Shellest and Nega were targeted as “two additional yachts linked to Putin.” Altogether, Putin’s fleet of yachts is worth at least $680 million, according to VesselsValue.

Except for Scheherazade , which was frozen by Italian authorities in the port of Marina di Carrara on May 6 and recently re-registered to Malaysia, and Olympia , which is registered in the Cayman Islands, the other yachts are all registered in Russia. All of the other yachts, except for Scheherazade , also appear to be in Russia now: Olympia was last tracked in Lake Ladoga, near St. Petersburg, on July 31, 2021; Chayka was last tracked in the Black Sea port of Sochi on March 29, 2021; Shellest was last tracked off the coast of Gelendzhik on September 13; and Nega was last tracked in Lake Ladoga on August 14.

The links between the six yachts and the leader of the Kremlin are complex. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Eduard Khudainatov— a former CEO of Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft and a longtime associate of Igor Sechin, Rosneft’s current boss and Putin’s right-hand man —acted as a “clean, unsanctioned straw owner” for Scheherazade , owning it through Marshall Islands-based Bielor Assets Ltd. A spokesperson for Khudainatov did not respond to a request for comment regarding Scheherazade when Forbes reached out in June.

Olympia is owned by Cayman Islands-based Ironstone Marine Investments, which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury on June 2. According to the U.S. Treasury, Shellest and Nega are owned by the Russia-based Non-Profit Partnership Revival of Maritime Traditions and its subsidiary LLC Gelios; both entities were sanctioned on June 2. Putin’s ties to Chayka are clearer: the yacht is owned directly by the Russian government, according to VesselsValue.

An investigation by OCCRP published in June shed light on the murky relationship between Putin and his yachts. The firms that own Shellest and Nega are tied to "LLCInvest," a network of interconnected companies and nonprofits that holds a collective $4.5 billion in assets, including Putin's palatial complex on the Black Sea. The group is also linked to another yacht, the $9 million, 121-foot Aldoga , owned by a firm held by Svetlana Krivonogikh, rumored to be the mother of one of Putin's daughters.

The investigation also revealed how Putin appears to use the yachts: Shellest makes frequent trips between Gelendzhik—the site of “Putin’s Palace”—and Sochi, while Nega travels between several homes owned by LLCInvest companies, including a villa known as the “Fisherman’s Hut” on Lake Ladoga and Villa Sellgren, a mansion on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. OCCRP reached out to more than 100 LLC Invest email addresses and made phone calls to five representatives of LLC Invest companies for comment; none of the emails received replies to the questions and four of the people called did not respond, while a fifth claimed he did not know who owned the companies.

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Vladimir Putin’s Yacht: Everything You Want To Know

Vladimir Putin’s yacht is enshrouded in mystery. As with many Russian officials, it has been hard to determine ownership and sightings of the yacht. While there are rumors that Putin owns several yachts, this is the only one confirmed to be his. Another yacht known as the Scheherazade may be his, but that’s still unconfirmed. 

One of the last times this yacht was seen was in 2022 leaving Estonia with a Russian Coast Guard escort. At that time it was believed it was heading to St. Petersburg and that the move, and the name change it seems to have undergone, may have been part of efforts to keep it out of international hands as many Russian assets, and in particular yachts, have been seized by international authorities since the war in Ukraine started.  The Dilbar is one example and Sailing Yacht A is another.

The yacht was designed by English design house H2 Yacht Design both inside and out while the actual construction took place at Sevmash Shipyard in Hamburg. The yacht was built by Blohm and Voss. She has a steel hull with an aluminum superstructure.

What is the Name of Putin’s Yacht?

Putin’s yacht used to be named Graceful but the Russian President opted for a new name in 2022 when it was rechristened as the Kosatka or Killer Whale in English. Photos of Graceful were compared to those of Kosatka and most sources agree it is the same yacht.

How Big is Putin’s Yacht?

Kosatka is a 267-foot superyacht that was custom made for Putin in 2014. The vessel’s beam is 45’7”. It features a gross tonnage of 2,500 and a draft of just over 12 feet. There’s room on board for 12 guests and a crew of 25.

Interior of Putin’s Yacht

As you can imagine, the information about the interior of the Russian President’s yacht is not too specific. We can assume the yacht was built with a number of security features on board that are being kept very secret from the general public. But aside from that there are some amenities which seem common to many yachts that are still hard to imagine Vladimir Putin enjoying depending on your perspective of the man.

Features and Amenities

The yacht features two VIP cabins for guests as well as three double cabins and two pullmans which are beds that fold down from the wall and seem oddly utilitarian for a luxury yacht. There’s also a master suite as well.

A dance floor can be found on board the yacht as well as a beauty salon, a gym, and an elevator to get you where you need to go.Naturally there’s a helipad for quick access to and from land. There’s also a hot tub on deck, a bar and plenty of lounge space for entertaining guests or dignitaries. There’s also a large swimming pool for guests as well

The interior design is much like a luxury hotel. Many accent features are in soft wood tones, white and gray marble and silver as well. The deck is teak and complement the interior color and design scheme.

How Fast is Putin’s Yacht?

The Kosatka can reach a cruising speed of 12 knots and a maximum speed of 17 knots with a range of up to 6,000 nautical miles from her 335,000 liter fuel tanks at 12 knots. Not the fastest yacht on the sea by any means, but it’s definitely meant as more of a luxury vessel

Engine and Speed

Kosatka is powered by twin diesel MTU (16V 4000 M70) 3,154hp engines.

Did Putin’s Yacht Get Seized?

Though it’s rumored the Russian leader has more than one yacht, the Graceful/Kosatka was not one that was seized as part of international sanctions against Russia by the Italian government. Putin managed to get the boat away from Estonia and back in Russian waters, as far as the international press has been able to determine. 

The last known sighting of the Kosatka was in October 2022 so it’s hard to say where exactly it might be right now. That said, no foreign government has claimed to have seized it so it’s safe to assume it’s in Russia currently. 

How Much is Putin’s Yacht Worth?

According to Forbes, the yacht cost the Russian president about $119 million. Keep in mind, the finances of the Russian President are some of the most mysterious in the world. By his own admission he makes $140,000 per year as part of the Russian government, has 3 cars, a trailer and a Moscow apartment.

People have testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Putin has a $1.4 billion mansion, literally hundreds of cars, 35 airplanes and is likely, but secretly, the richest man in the world. As in, even more rich than Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. But that’s all speculative.

Does Russian President Vladimir Putin Allow Yacht Charters?

Hopefully this goes without saying but no, Putin does not allow anyone to charter the Kosatka.

The Bottom Line

Russian President Vladimir’ Putin’s yacht used to be named Graceful but she underwent a retrofit in 2022 and that seems to have included a name change to Kosatka which means Killer Whale. The 267-foot superyacht is alleged to have cost Putin $119 million. 

While many yachts owned by Russian officials have been seized due to international sanctions over the last year, it seems as though the Kosatka escaped this fate and is safely somewhere in Russian waters.

The vessel has amenities and space to entertain as many as 12 guests with more than double that amount of crew. Though the boat is officially register to a Russian company it’s widely understood that this is Putin’s personal yacht though he may also be the owner of at least one other that was seized by the Italian Finance Ministry. That yacht has been linked to Putin and was seized in an Italian port.

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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.

Ukraine invasion — explained

Ravaged by russian troops, bucha rises from the ashes.

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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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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Watch CBS News

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.

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 linked to putin seized by italy.

A $700 million luxury yacht linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin was impounded by Italy Friday, authorities said.

The government order to seize the luxurious six-deck Scheherazade came as it appeared ready to set sail from the port of Marina di Carrara, according to recent dock activity.

The owner of the ship — which boasts two helicopter landing pads, 22 cabins, a full spa and an indoor pool that doubles as a dance floor — was believed to be Eduard Khudainatov, the former chief of Russian energy giant Rosneft, law enforcement sources said.

Khudainatov is not a current target of European Union war sanctions, but Rome had seized the vessel anyways while appealing Brussels to add him to EU embargoes.

Officials did not name Khudainatov in a statement, saying only the owner of the yacht was tied to “prominent elements of the Russian government.”

US officials told The New York Times the “prominent element” is Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had urged Italian lawmakers to confiscate the pleasure ship in March as part of efforts across the continent to pressure Putin and his loyalists to end their unprovoked war on his country.

Italy seized nearly a billion dollars worth of yachts and villas owned by Russians following Zelensky’s address.

On Thursday, Fiji’s government seized a massive $325 million yacht owned by a Russian oligarch at the request of the US.

Three days before, the US impounded a $90 million ship tied to a Putin associate in Spain.

With Post wires

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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$700mn superyacht tied to Putin is being refitted while impounded

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Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli in Marina di Carrara and Henry Foy in Brussels

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It has been 15 months since Italy impounded the Scheherazade, a $700mn superyacht linked to Vladimir Putin.

But the time the yacht has spent sitting in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara has not been wasted: Italy has allowed its unnamed, but sanctioned, owner to pay not just for its staff and maintenance, but also for it to be refitted.

The 140 metre-long yacht, which is only four years old and boasts 22 guest cabins with gold-plated bathrooms, two helicopter decks and a spa, is being refurbished by the Milan-listed Italian Sea Group.

The company confirmed that a “refit” of the ship continued after the asset was frozen by authorities, and that the yacht’s owner has been paying for the works and for maintenance, but declined to give further details, including the identity of the owner.

The Agenzia del Demanio, which manages seized assets, confirmed it had agreed, along with the finance ministry, to allow the ship’s owner to pay for the “maintenance works”, but declined to go into further detail because “information about frozen assets is classified”.

Italy has never publicly identified the yacht’s owner, although at the time it was seized it said there was “evidence of meaningful economic and business connections with prominent elements of the Russian government subject to EU sanctions”.

According to people with knowledge of the situation in Rome and Brussels the owner is Eduard Khudainatov, the former chief executive of the Russian state oil company Rosneft who was sanctioned by the EU in June 2022.

A Bloomberg report last year said US officials had alleged in court filings that Khudainatov was the “straw owner” of two yachts, including the Scheherazade, on behalf of Putin. The Financial Times traced the boat’s ownership to a Marshall Islands-based entity called Beilor Asset Limited.

Meanwhile researchers working for the jailed Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny have also alleged that the Scheherazade’s real owner is the Russian president, because a number of its crew were members of the Federal Protection Service, responsible for Putin’s security. The Kremlin denied the allegations at the time. The staff on board the yacht was subsequently replaced.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question from the Financial Times: “All rumors about this are unfounded.”

A European Commission spokesperson said that “members states are responsible for implementing sanctions,” and that asset freezes do not affect the ownership of the assets.

When asked about the payment scheme for the Scheherazade’s upkeep, the spokesperson said that “maintenance costs of frozen assets can be paid by the designated person” under a “standard derogation”.

Public authorities in the relevant member state can also pay the maintenance costs given the “risk that the designated person will not be willing to . . . or that the designated person will be denying beneficial ownership of the asset,” the spokesperson added.

Italy and the European Commission did not confirm who the “designated person” is for the Scheherazade.

The EU has imposed sanctions on almost 1,900 Russian individuals and entities since Moscow’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, freezing their assets and banning them from travelling around the bloc. The assets are frozen, rather than seized, and would be returned if sanctions are lifted.

According to a list of Russian assets seized in Italy seen by the FT, the Scheherazade is the only one whose owner is not specified. The vessel is merely described as: “superyacht Scheherazade sailing under the Cayman Islands flag with a value of around €650mn.”

Additional reporting by Stefania Palma in Washington

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Putin's alleged $700M superyacht seized in Italy

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Italian officials seized a $700 million luxury yacht with ties to the Russian government , Rome's ministry of finance announced Friday. 

Italian authorities scrambled to investigate the nearly 460-foot superyacht known as the Scheherazade, which was dry-docked in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara as concerns mounted the Kremlin-linked vessel would set out to Italian waters shortly. 

RUSSIA MOVES FORCES TO MARIUPOL AHEAD OF 'VICTORY DAY' PARADE, OFFICIALS WORK TO RESCUE TRAPPED TROOPS

The yacht was seized under coordinated measures with the European Union due to Russia's involvement in "undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

The Scheherazade, a 459-foot luxury yacht, is docked at the shipyard in Marina Di Carrara, Italy, March 23, 2022. (Francesco Mazzei/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The finance ministry said the vessel, which flew the flag of the Cayman Islands, "had long been under the attention of the authorities."

Despite the acknowledged investigation that found the yacht to have "prominent" links to Russians targeted under EU sanctions, Italian officials omitted the name of the owner of the Scheherazade.

Some reporting has suggested the Scheherazade belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while other reports have pointed to Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian former executive of a state-owned oil company, .

Italy's financial police patrol boat is seen in front of the multimillion-dollar megayacht Scheherazade, which is docked at the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara, Tuscany, May 6, 2022.  (Federico Scoppa/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Khudainatov does not appear to have yet been specifically sanctioned, but a decree passed by Italian Finance Minister Daniele Franco barred the vessel from sailing away.

GERMANY ANNOUNCES BAN ON UKRAINIAN FLAGS DURING WWII VICTORY DAY PARADE: 'SLAP IN THE FACE'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy specifically referenced the megayacht in a March address to Italy’s parliament in a plea for action.

"Don't be a resort for murderers," he said in a translated address. "Block all their real estate, accounts and yachts — from Scheherazade to the smallest ones. Block the assets of all those who have influence in Russia."

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with top officials about support to the aviation industry in Russia amid western sanctions via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 31, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP / AP Images)

Ukraine has pressed the international community to impose harsher sanctions on Russia as it has continued its deadly war in Ukraine for more than 10 weeks.

The U.S., along with several European nations, have made moves to cut Russian oil ties, while others have pledged to do so by the end of 2022. 

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Zelenskyy slammed EU nations that continue to purchase Russian oil, its No. 1 export.

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"You shouldn’t be a little evil and a little good. It is inadmissible to impose sanctions and with another hand to sign new contracts with Russia. This is definitely inadmissible in times of war. This is hypocrisy," Zelenskyy said during a virtual address to the U.K.’s Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House Friday.

Here are the superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs

As part of an international pressure campaign on Russia, authorities from around the world have seized more than a half-dozen superyachts belonging to billionaire oligarchs allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The yacht seizures since the Feb. 24 invasion are "just the beginning," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in March, as an international task force worked to identify further assets that can be seized or frozen.

“The Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable those who facilitate the death and destruction we are witnessing in Ukraine,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said of the ongoing efforts in May.

Here are the superyachts government officials have seized since Russia invaded Ukraine last month.

The Justice Department announced May 5 that the Fijian government had seized billionaire oligarch Suleiman Kerimov 's 348-foot yacht Amadea. The vessel, which is valued at more than $300 million , arrived in Fiji last month. Kerimov, who's worth an estimated $14 billion and has ties to the Russian government, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department over alleged money laundering in 2018.

Special features on the sprawling yacht include a helipad, infinity pool, a jacuzzi and multiple bars, according to a report in Boat International . It can accommodate 16 overnight guests in addition to 36 crew members, the report said.

In April, Spanish law-enforcement officials seized a 255-foot yacht called the Tango, which Justice Department says is owned by oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Vekselberg is an aluminum magnate who the Treasury Department says has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Tango is worth an estimated $90 million, prosecutors said , and Vekselberg allegedly purchased it through shell companies. The 11-year-old yacht has seven staterooms and reportedly includes amenities such as a pool, gym and beauty salon .

Authorities in Italy seized a 215-foot superyacht called the Lady M this month. It's owned by Alexei Mordashov, Russia's richest businessman, and it’s estimated to be worth $27 million . The vessel, which requires a crew of 14, has six guest cabins , a pool and a gym.

But it pales in comparison to another of Mordashov's yachts, the $500 million Nord . The 464-foot vessel, which has two helipads and a waterfall and can accommodate 36 guests, was anchored this month in the Seychelles, where the U.S. and European Union sanctions don’t apply.

Italian officials also seized the 132-foot superyacht Lena, owned by the energy magnate Gennady Timchenko. Estimated to be worth $8 million, it has five cabins and can accommodate 10 guests.

SY A — short for Sailing Yacht A — is one of the world's largest superyachts. Valued at over $440 million, the 469-foot vessel, owned by the fertilizer magnate Andrey Melnichenko, has eight decks, multiple elevators, an underwater observation area and the world's tallest masts . It was seized in the Italian port of Trieste.

Authorities in Spain seized Sergei Chemezov's Valerie, a 279-foot superyacht that had been moored in Barcelona. Chemezov , a former KGB officer, heads the state conglomerate Rostec. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez touted the seizure on La Sexta television. “We are talking about a yacht that we estimate is worth $140 million,” Sanchez said.

Officials in France announced this month that they had seized the 289-foot Amore Vero, which was undergoing repairs in a shipyard near Marseille. When they arrived, authorities said, they found the crew preparing for an urgent departure, even though the repair work was scheduled to last through April. The $120 million boat, which has seven cabins , is linked to Igor Sechin, described by the U.S. Treasury Department as a close ally of Putin's.

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.

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Russian crew aboard a superyacht possibly linked to Putin have left their jobs, workers say.

U.S. officials have said the Scheherezade, which is dry-docked in Italy, could be owned by the Russian leader.

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By Gaia Pianigiani

• March 24, 2022

Russian crew members on a mysterious $700-million luxury yacht that U.S. officials say could be owned by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia abruptly left their jobs and the Tuscan coastal town where it is undergoing repairs a couple of weeks ago amid scrutiny of the vessel, local union leaders and workers say.

The crew members had been fixtures in the small port of Marina di Carrara since the fall of 2020, when the 459-foot-long yacht, Scheherazade, arrived at a dry dock less than four months after being built. No owner has been publicly identified.

“They were replaced by a British crew,” said Paolo Gozzani, the local leader of Italy’s General Confederation of Labor trade union, on Wednesday. “I don’t know and don’t care whether the yacht is indeed Putin’s or not, but I worry about the repercussions on shipyard workers if police impound or confiscate the vessel.”

Workers at the shipyard and regular visitors to its private lounge confirmed that the Russians had routinely supervised the work done on the yacht and had drinks at the bar or played pool there in the evenings. The yacht, estimated by the website SuperYachtFan to cost about $700 million, has two helicopter decks, a swimming pool with a retractable cover that converts to a dance floor and a gym.

This week, the research team of Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, published a video in which it argued, based on a 2020 crew manifest, that a dozen of the Russian crew members of the Scheherazade either worked for or had a connection with Russia’s Federal Protective Service. The team drew the conclusion that the yacht must belong to Mr. Putin or some of his closest aides.

The Scheherazade’s real ownership is hidden by various shell companies. American officials said this month they had found initial indications that it was linked to Mr. Putin but would not describe what information they had.

In an interview with The New York Times this month, the yacht’s captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, declined to disclose the name of the owner, but denied that Mr. Putin owned or had ever been on the yacht. Mr. Bennett-Pearce said Thursday he wouldn’t comment further until an investigation by Italian authorities was finished.

Italy’s financial police have been looking into Scheherazade’s ownership for weeks. Italian investigators wouldn’t comment on Thursday, saying that the investigation was continuing.

In a speech to Italy’s Parliament this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Italy to prevent Russians from vacationing in the country, as well as to freeze their assets, bank accounts and yachts, “f rom the Scheherazade to the smallest ones .”

Italian authorities have frozen over 800 million euros in assets from Russian oligarchs on the European sanctions list, including villas in Sardinia, Tuscany, Liguria and the Lake Como area, and three yachts.

Gaia Pianigiani is a reporter based in Italy for The New York Times.  More about Gaia Pianigiani

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

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Russia’s Youngest Conscripts:  The long-sacrosanct practice of keeping young Russian army conscripts off the front lines  is eroding as the lack of troops in Russia’s Kursk region indicates a manpower shortage.

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The death of Russian 'spy whale' Hvaldimir in Norway leaves behind a complex and inspirational animal conservation legacy

Topic: Whales

Hvaldimir was a hit from the first time he was spotted in the wild, off the coast of Norway in April 2019.

He was wearing a harness that looked like it had a small camera mount and was marked with the words "Equipment St Petersburg" in Russian.

What's more, he was far friendlier than most beluga whales and seemed very comfortable around humans.

So began the speculation that he was a "spy whale", with some marine researchers pointing to previous cases where the Russian navy was believed to have trained whales and dolphins.

Locals and tourists regularly interacted with Hvaldimir, which brought him closer to danger. ( AP: Jorgen Ree Wiig  )

From the speculation came the whale's nickname, crowd-sourced by a Norwegian broadcaster.

"Hvaldimir" is a combination of the Norwegian word for "whale" and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has never shed light on Hvaldimir's past, though it's generally accepted that the whale must have previously been held in some kind of captivity.

If he was a "spy whale", however, his cover was well and truly blown.

Regina Haug founded OneWhale to advocate for Hvaldimir's safety. ( Supplied: OneWhale.org )

For the next few years, he'd travel the waters of the Norwegian coast, delighting people with his friendly antics playing football, cheekily harassing seagulls, and even rescuing phones that fell into the water.

Regina Haug was a documentary filmmaker when she went to meet Hvaldimir in 2019.

"I just went to film Hvaldimir for a week because I was curious about it, there's not any good information about this whale … it was only a few joke-type news stories."

She vividly remembers the moment they met.

"I was with people who had been hand-feeding him and they believed he could only eat food out [of peoples'] hand, and he'd been gone for a few days and they were worried he hadn't eaten.

"And in my mind, I thought, 'Maybe he's taught himself to eat.'

"Sure enough, he's swimming towards us … and he goes down into the water and comes back up and hands a huge fish to me that he had caught.

"[He] looks right at me, and it's almost like he was telling me and everyone in the boat, 'Look what I can do!'"

The dangers of being an internet sensation

Hvaldimir amassed a worldwide following, but the attention wasn't always a good thing.

The whale's popularity meant he became something of a tourist attraction, and his unusual proximity to people meant he was at greater risk of injury.

Ms Haug said, from the first time she met him, she was concerned for his safety.

"I was like 'my God, this is not going to end well' and I had people that very week telling me he's either going to die by a propeller strike, a boat strike, drown in a fishing net or someone is going to take his life on purpose."

Ms Haug went on to create the non-profit organisation OneWhale, which is described as a "public safety program" for Hvaldimir.

The baluga whale was not afraid of humans, who regularly fed the animal by hand. ( AP: Jorgen Ree Wiig )

She said the team documented extensive injuries the whale suffered.

"We have watched him get hit by propellers, his body sliced open by sharp objects, injuries from tourists putting sharp things in his mouth."

Ms Haug and OneWhale also advocated for Hvaldimir to be relocated further offshore, in an area with less traffic where he might join a nearby pod of belugas.

By the time he died, OneWhale had secured permission from the Norwegian government and was organising and fundraising for his relocation.

But there were those who opposed the plan.

The conflict over a whale's best interests

After the application to relocate Hvaldimir was granted, more than 70 marine experts signed an open letter to Norway's government warning against the idea.

Signatories included former members of OneWhale, who had split from the organisation over differing opinions on the best way to protect the beluga.

One such person was former OneWhale member and marine scientist Sebastian Strand, who founded Marine Mind, another organisation that had been monitoring Hvaldimir but opposed his proposed relocation.

In August, Mr Strand told Yahoo News, "We fear the consequences of transport and the uncertain events that would occur."

Arguments against the relocation included concerns the whale would have a hard time acclimatising to a new area; that a proposed relocation site would be too close to Russia where he would run the risk of being recaptured; that it would be too hard to monitor him and that he wouldn't be able to catch enough fish to feed himself.

Hvaldimir's death

Hvaldimir was reported to have been found dead in a bay in Southern Norway on Saturday.

A necropsy is underway to determine the cause of death.

Ms Haug said seeing Hvaldimir's body was "our worst fears basically coming true".

"We're not going to speculate right at this moment, but we feel very strongly we know how he was killed," she said.

"It's the things that we had been warning about for five years, about his very high-risk life in Norway."

Conservationists were split on whether Hvaldimir should be relocated or not before his death. ( Supplied: OneWhale.org )

"It was a matter of time that something like this would have happened," said Vanessa Pirotta, an Australian marine scientist who has focused on the interactions between humans and whales.

Despite the differing opinions on how best to protect Hvaldimir, his presence and popularity carried with it a message about conservation.

"Due to [his] close proximity to human activity [he] has represented some of the challenges that whales globally around the world face," Dr Pirotta told the ABC's The World program.

 Ms Haug said: "He's a huge success story that animals can come out of captivity and make it again in the wild."

She hopes that Hvaldimir's story, including his death, will lead to better protections for other animals.

"Maybe it will be the next walrus who comes into busy cities, and instead of being killed she or he will be moved to a better location, or maybe it will be Bella, the beluga in Korea who's living in a glass box in the middle of a shopping mall, maybe Bella will be released.

"What I would want for everybody out there is to remember how special he was so that they can bring that forward into their life when they're dealing with any animal in need."