russian yacht

U.S. seizes mega yacht owned by oligarch with close ties to Putin

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain — The U.S. government seized a mega yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president on Monday, the first in the government’s sanctions enforcement initiative to “seize and freeze” giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites .

Spain’s Civil Guard and U.S. federal agents descended on the yacht at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police going in and out of the boat on Monday morning.

The seizure was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. A Spanish Civil Guard spokesman confirmed that officers from the Spanish police body and from the FBI were at the marina searching the vessel Monday morning and said further details would be released later.

A Civil Guard source told The Associated Press that the immobilized yacht is Tango, a 78-meter (254-feet) vessel that carries Cook Islands flag and that  Superyachtfan.com , a specialized website that tracks the world’s largest and most exclusive recreational boats, values at $120 million. The source was also not authorized to be named in media reports and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities.

The move is the first time the U.S. government has seized an oligarch’s yacht since Attorney General Merrick Garland and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assembled a task force known as REPO — short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs — as an effort to enforce sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Vekselberg has long had ties to the U.S. including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era.

Vekselberg was also questioned in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.

Vekselberg and Intrater were thrust into the spotlight in the Mueller probe after the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels released a memo that claimed $500,000 in hush money was routed through Columbus Nova to a shell company set up by Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Columbus Nova denied that Vekselberg played any role in its payments to Cohen.

Vekselberg and Intrater met with Cohen at Trump Tower, one of several meetings between members of Trump’s inner circle and high-level Russians during the 2016 campaign and transition.

The 64-year-old mogul founded Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest stake in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s biggest aluminum producer, among other investments.

Vekselberg was first sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, and again in March of this year, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began. Vekselberg has also been sanctioned by authorities in the United Kingdom.

The U.S. Justice Department has also launched a sanctions enforcement task force known as KleptoCapture , which also aims to enforce financial restrictions in the U.S. imposed on Russia and its billionaires, working with the FBI, Treasury and other federal agencies. That task force will also target financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to dodge sanctions.

The White House has said that many allied countries, including German, the U.K, France, Italy and others are involved in trying to collect and share information against Russians targeted for sanctions. In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden warned oligarch that the U.S. and European allies would “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.”

“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said.

Wednesday’s capture is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht. Officials there said they had seized a vessel valued at over $140 million owned by the CEO of a state-owned defense conglomerate and a close Putin ally.

French authorities have also seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Italy has also seized several yachts and other assets.

Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht “Lena” belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo; the 65-meter (215-foot) “Lady M” owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, featuring six suites and estimated to be worth 65 million euros; as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials.

Para reported from Madrid and Balsamo reported from Washington.

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US seizes yacht owned by oligarch with close ties to Putin

A Civil Guard stands by the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

Civil Guards accompany U.S. FBI agents and a U.S.Homeland Security agent from the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

A U.S. federal agent leaves the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

A Civil Guard officer accompanies a U.S.Homeland Security agent and an FBI agent from the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

A U.S. federal agent and two Civil Guards board the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

Civil Guards stand by the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

A U.S. federal agent walks past two Civil Guards on the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

Civil Guards officers accompany identified people from the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

A Civil Guard and a police dog walk off the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday April 4, 2022. U.S. federal agents and Spain’s Civil Guard are searching the yacht owned by a Russian oligarch. The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities. (AP Photo/Francisco Ubilla)

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PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP) — The U.S. government on Monday seized a 254-foot yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a first by the Biden administration under sanctions imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and targeting pricey assets of Russian elites .

Spain’s Civil Guard and U.S. federal agents descended on the Tango at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police going in and out of the boat.

The U.S. Justice Department, which obtained a warrant from a federal judge in Washington, alleges the yacht should be forfeited for violating U.S. bank fraud, money laundering and sanctions statutes.

Superyachtfan.com, a specialized website that tracks the world’s largest and most exclusive recreational boats, values the 78-meter vessel, which carries the Cook Islands flag, at $120 million.

The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg , a billionaire and close Putin ally who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents.

All of Vekselberg’s assets in the United States are frozen and American companies are barred from doing business with him and his entities. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era.

Prosecutors allege Vekselberg bought the Tango in 2011 and has owned it since then, though they believe he has used shell companies to try to obfuscate his ownership and to avoid financial oversight.

They contend Vekselberg and those working for him continued to make payments using U.S. banks to support and maintain the yacht, even after sanctions were imposed on him in 2018. Those payments included a stay in December 2020 at a luxury water villa resort in the Maldives and fees to moor the yacht.

It’s the first U.S. seizure of an oligarch’s yacht since U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assembled a task force known as REPO — short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs — as an effort to enforce sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

“It will not be the last.” Garland said in a statement. “Together, with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war.”

Vekselberg has long had ties to the U.S., including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut. He was also questioned in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.

Vekselberg and Intrater were thrust into the spotlight in that investigation after the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels released a memo that claimed $500,000 in hush money was routed through Columbus Nova to a shell company set up by Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Columbus Nova denied that Vekselberg played any role in its payments to Cohen.

Vekselberg and Intrater met with Cohen at Trump Tower, one of several meetings between members of Trump’s inner circle and high-level Russians during Trump’s 2016 campaign and the transition before his presidency.

The 64-year-old Vekselberg founded Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest stake in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s biggest aluminum producer, among other investments.

Vekselberg was first sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, and again in March of this year, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began. Vekselberg has also been sanctioned by authorities in the United Kingdom.

The yacht sails under the Cook Islands flag and is owned by a company registered in the British Virgin Islands administered by different societies in Panama, the Civil Guard said, “following a complicated financial and societal web to conceal its truthful ownership.”

Agents confiscated documents and computers inside the yacht that will be analyzed to confirm he real identity of the owner, it said.

The U.S. Justice Department has also launched a sanctions enforcement task force known as KleptoCapture, which also aims to enforce financial restrictions in the U.S. imposed on Russia and its billionaires, working with the FBI, the U.S. Treasury and other federal agencies. That task force will also target financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to dodge sanctions.

The White House has said that many allied countries, including German, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and others are involved in trying to collect and share information against Russians targeted for sanctions. In his State of the Union address on March 1, President Joe Biden warned oligarchs that the U.S. and European allies would “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.”

“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said.

Monday’s capture is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht. Officials said they had seized a vessel valued at over $140 million owned by the CEO of a state-owned defense conglomerate and a close Putin ally.

French authorities have seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Italy has seized several yachts and other assets.

Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht Lena belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo; the 65-meter (215-foot) Lady M owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, featuring six suites and estimated to be worth 65 million euros; as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials.

Parra reported from Madrid and Balsamo reported from Washington.

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Seized Russian-owned yacht Amadea finally sets sail from Fiji under U.S. control

By Graham Kates

Updated on: June 7, 2022 / 11:44 AM EDT / CBS News

The Amadea, a Russian-owned superyacht, set sail from Fiji Tuesday bearing a U.S. flag, ending weeks of legal and administrative hurdles that had stalled American efforts to seize the $300 million vessel it says is owned by a sanctioned oligarch.

U.S. Justice Department officials had been stymied by a frenzied legal effort by the Amadea's owner to contest the American seizure warrant, and a yacht crew that refused to sail for the U.S.

Fiji's Supreme Court ultimately weighed in Tuesday, clearing the U.S. to take the 348-foot ship.  The Amadea boasts luxury features such as a helipad, a mosaic-tiled pool, a lobster tank and a pizza oven, nestled in a décor of "delicate marble and stones" and "precious woods and delicate silk fabrics," according to court documents.

The ship was targeted by the Justice Department's Kleptocapture task force, a team devoted to seizing the luxury assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs , as part of U.S. efforts to punish Russia for its deadly war in Ukraine. Legislation supported by President Biden that has passed the House of Representatives, but not the Senate, would allow the U.S. to sell the Amadea and direct the proceeds toward the Ukraine war and recovery effort.

Today, with authorization from the Fijian High Court and under a new flag, the Amadea set sail for the United States after having been seized as the proceeds of criminal evasion of US sanctions against Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/JHiYUDKcmQ — Anthony Coley (@AnthonyColeyDOJ) June 7, 2022

The U.S. claims the Amadea is owned by sanctioned gold mining billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, but a Fijian lawyer for the holding company the ship is registered to has said the U.S. is incorrect.

The lawyer, Feizel Haniff, said the true owner is Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oil executive who was sanctioned by the European Union on June 4 but has not been sanctioned by the U.S. The Amadea is one of at least two massive superyachts — with a combined value of about $1 billion — owned by holding companies tied to Eduard Khudainatov

American officials are dismissive of his claim to the yachts, arguing he's not rich enough to own them. An FBI agent wrote in a warrant that Khudainatov is "a second-tier oligarch (at best) who would not have anywhere near the resources to purchase and maintain more than $1 billion worth of luxury yachts."

U.S. officials claim in court documents that Khudainatov is a "straw man" for the sanctioned Russian elite who really own the yachts. 

Haniff declined to comment on Fiji's decision Tuesday to end the legal saga that began in April , when U.S. officials accompanied Fijian police in boarding the ship to interview crew and pore through records on the ship's computers.

Those same police would later escort U.S. officials off the ship after they boarded on the morning of May 7 and demanded the captain "immediately handover the Amadea with all available key personnel," according to a sworn affidavit by the captain, filed in Fiji court.

The day before, a Fiji court had effectively frozen the ship in place, issuing a stay of a previous ruling authorizing the U.S. to take it. 

But even without that stay, the U.S. faced an unexpected hurdle. The crew, whose pay had already been frozen due to sanctions, were "refusing to sail on the Amadea with the U.S. authorities to an unknown destination," the captain wrote in his affidavit. He added that they feared cooperating with the U.S., in breach of their contracts with the ship's owner, would damage their reputations in the yachting industry.

By the end of May, contractors for the U.S. had hired a new crew of 24, led by a captain who had previously been at the helm of the Amadea.

On Tuesday, Fiji's Supreme Court ruled that the ship needed to be turned over to the U.S. in order for Fiji to comply with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. 

Fiji's top prosecutor said in a statement to media organizations that "the court accepted the validity of the US warrant and agreed that issues concerning money laundering and ownership need to be decided in the court of original jurisdiction," in this case, the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

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Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]

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The U.S. seized Russian oligarchs' superyachts. Now, American taxpayers pay the price

Ayesha Rascoe

Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Stephanie Baker, senior writer at Bloomberg News, about the complications involved in seizing and maintaining superyachts owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires.

Copyright © 2022 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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16 superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs

Western sanctions over moscow's invasion of ukraine led to many luxury vessels being detained in europe.

Two superyachts linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted on the Turkish coast on Tuesday, 'Eclipse' and 'My Solaris'. Mr Abramovich is among several wealthy Russians added to an EU blacklist as governments act to seize their yachts and other luxury assets. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Several luxury yachts owned by wealthy Russians have been detained across Europe this month.

It comes after the West imposed sanctions on oligarchs over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine .

Some have taken evasive action – two such superyachts linked to billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted approaching the Turkish coast on Tuesday. A group of Ukrainians tried to stop one of the yachts from docking in Turkey.

Chelsea FC owner Mr Abramovich is one of several oligarchs who were added to an EU blacklist last week as governments acted to seize yachts and other luxury assets owned by the billionaires.

Western sanctions resulted in many large vessels relocating from Europe in the past few weeks. Several have headed to places such as the Maldives, which have no extradition treaty with the US.

Where is the Abramovich-owned yacht heading?

Mr Abramovich's yacht Eclipse was seen heading towards Marmaris on Tuesday, according to data compiled by monitoring site Marine Traffic, which was seen by Reuters.

The previous day, his superyacht Solaris was moored in Bodrum, about 80 kilometres from Marmaris, data showed, after skirting waters of EU countries.

There was no suggestion Mr Abramovich was on board either of the yachts.

Ukrainians attempt to stop Abramovich's yacht docking in Turkey

Which yachts have been detained?

On Monday, a superyacht linked to another Russian billionaire was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar.

The Axioma , believed to belong to Dmitrievich Pumpyansky, moored at Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, Reuters TV footage showed.

Mr Pumpyansky, who is under UK and EU sanctions, owns Russia's largest steel pipe maker TMK. Data shows the 72-metre vessel is owned by a British Virgin Islands holding company called Pyrene investments, Reuters reported. An article published as part of the Panama Papers leaks names Mr Pumpyansky as a beneficiary of the holding.

On March 12, the world's biggest sailing yacht, called Sailing Yacht A and owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko , was seized by Italian police.

Several other luxury yachts have also been detained across Europe, including in Gibraltar, Mallorca in Spain's Balearic Islands and the French coast.

Here are 16 superyachts linked to wealthy Russians

1. Eclipse , a superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich , was this week spotted heading in the direction of Marmaris in Turkey.

2. Solaris , belonging to Mr Abramovich , moored in Bodrum at the start of the week.

3. The Axioma superyacht, belonging to Russian oligarch Dmitrievich Pumpyansky , who is on the EU's list of sanctioned Russians, was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar on Monday.

4. The Crescent , which was seized by the Spanish government in Tarragona, Spain, on March 17. The ship's owner is not publicly known, although it is believed to belong to Russian Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft Oil in Moscow.

5. Ragnar , owned by former KGB officer and Russian oligarch Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, who is not on the EU sanctions list.

6. Tango , owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the US on March 11.

7. Lady Anastasia , owned by Russian arms manufacturer Alexander Mijeev, is retained at Port Adriano, Mallorca, as a result of sanctions against Russia and Belarus issued by the European Union.

8. Valerie was seized by the Spanish government in Barcelona, Spain, on March 15. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that the ship is linked to Rostec State Corporation’s chief executive Sergey Chemezov.

9. The $578 million Sailing Yacht A owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko was seized by Italian police in the port of Trieste on March 12.

10. The 156-metre Dilbar superyacht is owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

11. La Datcha belongs to Russian billionaire businessman Oleg Tinkov.

12. Lady M , owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, was seized by Italian police on March 5.

13. Amore Vero was seized in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat on March 3 by French authorities. The yacht is linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

14. Quantum Blue , owned by a company linked to Russian billionaire Sergei Galitsky, the head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, was seized in southern France on March 3.

15. Superyacht Luna is owned by Russian billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov.

16. Triple Seven is owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov, according to media reports. The yacht was last up for sale in 2020 for €38 million ($41.85 million).

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Revealed: Russia-linked superyachts ‘going dark’ to avoid sanctions threat

Vessels with ties to Russian oligarchs hit by sanctions are no longer reporting their position to an automatic global locator

I n the sparkling azure waters of Antigua, the gleaming £95m superyacht Alfa Nero could be seen at anchor last week by sightseers enjoying the Caribbean coastline. But few of the tourists who spotted its sleek black hull would have appreciated that it was quite a find.

Since the invasion of Ukraine , the superyacht, which is linked to the Russian billionaire Andrey Guryev, has vanished off the global tracking maps used to locate marine traffic.

An investigation by the Observer this weekend reveals it is one of at least six superyachts linked to UK-sanctioned oligarchs which have “gone dark” on ocean tracking systems. The owners of these yachts will almost certainly realise they are at risk of being targeted in a global hunt for the assets of Russia’s super-rich.

At least 13 such vessels with a total value of nearly £2bn have already been impounded since the invasion of Ukraine, from southern France to Fiji. In the latter case, the superyacht Amadea, allegedly linked to the gold billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, was seized on behalf of the US .

Analysts report an increase in Russian-linked yachts which are turning off the automatic identification system (AIS) equipment used for tracking large vessels. The system can be turned off for legitimate reasons, but experts believe some vessels want to avoid detection.

An analysis by the Observer of AIS data compiled by the maritime and aviation market intelligence firm VesselsValue reveals other superyachts which have “gone dark” for more than a month include:

The 72-metre (238ft) superyacht Clio, linked to industrialist Oleg Deripaska, which sailed from the Indian Ocean to Turkey after the invasion. Its last transmitted location was on 18 April in the Black Sea, within range of the Russian ports of Sochi and Novorossiysk.

The 70-metre Galactica Super Nova, linked to the oligarch Vagit Alekperov, the sanctioned former president of Lukoil. The last transmitted location of the vessel was on 2 March off the Croatian coast.

The 140-metre Ocean Victory, linked to the sanctioned oligarch Viktor Rashnikov, which last transmitted its location at anchor in the Maldives on 1 March.

One member of crew on a superyacht linked to a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the UK told the Observer last week: “We were told to turn off the AIS. We removed the screws on the power plug and pulled it out.”

There are about 9,300 superyachts on the seas, worth more than £50bn, according to industry data. An estimated 10% of that fleet is owned by Russians.

One of the first superyachts to be impounded was the 86-metre Amore Vero, linked to the oil tycoon Igor Sechin , which was seized by customs officers at a shipyard at La Ciotat, near Marseille, on 2 March.

Italian authorities also impounded the 143-metre Sailing Yacht A on 12 March in Trieste. It is believed to be owned by the billionaire entrepreneur Andrey Melnichenko. He was sanctioned by the UK on 15 March.

Melnichenko’s other superyacht, the futuristic £240m Motor Yacht A, has disappeared from global tracking system. Its last confirmed location was on 10 March in the Maldives.

The last recorded location of the Alfa Nero on AIS was in the Caribbean on 3 March, when it was anchored at Philipsburg in Sint Maarten. The yacht is operating on a skeleton crew and has put its tender, the Alfa Fish, into storage.

Guryev, 62, a Russian who made his fortune with the Russian fertiliser giant PhosAgro, is reported by maritime sources to be the owner of the vessel. He was revealed to have bought London’s largest private residence, the 25-bedroom mansion Witanhurst, for £50m in 2008.

He has regularly enjoyed sailing on the Alfa Nero. The vessel is also used by his family, including his son (also Andrey) and his son’s wife, Valeria, who studied at the London College of Fashion and once reportedly stated on Instagram that she was “too pretty for work”. Like many yachts, it is owned via an opaque offshore structure, and Guryev has denied being the owner.

Other yachts which have not been tracked by AIS for more than a month include the Galactica Super Nova, which has a glass-bottomed swimming pool with a waterfall. It left Tivat in Montenegro on 2 March and promptly disappeared off the system.

The Clio, linked to Deripaska, sailed more than 3,000 miles after the invasion, from the Maldives, through the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean and into the Bosphorus, gateway to the Black Sea and its Russian ports. In the Clio’s case, one reason it may have gone dark could be the perilous situation in the Black Sea arising from the war.

Other yachts which have not transmitted a confirmed location via AIS for at least a month include the My Sky, linked to the cigarette tycoon Igor Kesaev, which last reported its location in the Maldives on 30 March. The Maldives has no extradition treaty with the US, and at least five yachts linked to Russian owners have headed for its waters since the invasion. Other vessels, including two owned by Roman Abramovich, have headed to Turkey.

Under maritime rules, AIS should always be in operation when ships are under way or at anchor. All vessels of 300 gross tonnage and upwards must be fitted with it. A cruising vessel will typically transmit its location frequently, but it can turn the system off when in port. The data is relayed by radio receivers and satellites.

Sam Tucker at VesselsValue said: “There are some vessels where we would be previously getting a signal every few minutes from transponders and we are now seeing gaps of months. It’s very likely that some have flicked off the switch and gone into stealth mode.”

None of the sanctioned oligarchs linked to the six superyachts suspected of turning off their AIS responded to a request for comment.

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The $578 million megayacht owned by Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko was seized by Italy

• Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko's yacht was seized Friday, Italian authorities said.
• Sailing Yacht A is the world's largest sailing yacht at around 469 feet long and has eight decks.
• Melnichenko was sanctioned by the European Union in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A megayacht belonging to Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko was seized by Italian authorities on Friday, CNN reported.

A statement from Italy's finance police said the yacht, known as SY A or Sailing Yacht A, was worth around 530 million euros, or $578 million, according to CNN. It also said the yacht was currently in storage in Trieste, Italy. Maritime tracking data viewed by Insider confirmed the location of the yacht in the Adriatic Sea.

Melnichenko is one of the billionaire oligarchs sanctioned by the European Union in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Melnichenko, who is worth $11 billion according to Forbes, founded fertilizer producer EuroChem Group and coal energy company SUEK.

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In announcing its decision, the EU council said Melnichenko "belongs to the most influential circle of Russian businesspeople with close connections to the Russian Government." It also said he was among a group of 37 businesspeople who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials on February 24 to discuss the impact of potential sanctions.

"The fact that he was invited to attend this meeting shows that he is a member of the closest circle of Vladimir Putin and that he is supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, as well as stability and security in Ukraine," the EU said, adding it also showed he is "providing a substantial source of revenue to the Government of Russia."

In a statement provided to Insider, a spokesperson for Melnichenko denied the EU's accusations about his connections to the war in Ukraine.

"Andrey Melnichenko is an international self-made entrepreneur. He has no relation to the tragic events in Ukraine. He has no political affiliations. To draw a parallel between attending a meeting through membership in a business council, just as dozens of businesspeople from both Russia and Europe have done in the past, and undermining or threatening a country is absurd and nonsensical," the statement said.

"There is no justification whatsoever for placing him on the EU sanctions list. We will be disputing these baseless and unjustified sanctions, and believe that the rule of law and common sense will prevail," the statement continued.

The spokesperson also noted Melnichenko resigned as a member of the board and main beneficiary of both EuroChem Group  and SUEK this week, as the companies announced in separate statements on Thursday. He also said both companies are privately owned and not affiliated with any government, and that EuroChem Group is based in Switzerland.

Sailing Yacht A is the worlds largest sailing yacht at around 469 feet long, according to SuperYachtFan.com . It has 300-foot masts, eight decks, a swimming pool, and an underwater observation pod. It's one of several megayachts owned by Russian oligarchs that are subject to sanctions.

Some Russian oligarchs and billionaires have tried to escape sanctions by transporting their luxury yachts to places like Dubai, which has not enacted sanctions, and the Maldives, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

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Who's Paying for Russian Oligarch's Seized Yacht in San Diego Bay?

The amadea, which superyachttimes.com called the 63rd largest yacht in the world, tied up monday at naval base san diego, in national city, by eric s. page and mari payton • published june 28, 2022 • updated on june 28, 2022 at 2:11 pm.

Many San Diegans who saw the news about the Amadea — the $325 million seized Russian oligarch's yacht that docked in San Diego on Monday — may be wondering: Who's paying for that?

Imagine how much the fuel costs to sail it more than 5,000 miles from Fiji, where it was seized earlier this month, to San Diego? A local marine fuel dock quoted the following prices, if you're wondering: $7.40 for gas, $7.35 for diesel. According to SuperYachtTimes.com, the Amadea has a 392,000-liter fuel tank. That works out to about 103,555 gallons, so it could cost $766,307 or so just to fill up.

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And then there are maintence costs on a 350-foot long yacht, which, you can be sure, are extensive and necessary — in fact, not undertaking such efforts can cause the vessel's value to decline if it deteriotes due to neglect.

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The Amadea carries a full complement of 36 crew, including the captain, according to SuperYachtTimes, but it won't need nearly that many once she tied up at Naval Base San Diego in National City. Nevertheless, someone will be monitoring the yacht and conducting the maintenance.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the yacht was bought with what it calls "dirty money," and, as such, some may be relieved to hear, will be sold to the highest bidder. Presumably, the associated post-seizure costs accrued after its seizure will be coming off the top of the sale price. Until then, the Amadea, which SuperYachtTimes called the 63rd larges yacht in the world, will resume in the custody of the U.S.

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Officials with the DOJ said the Amadea, which was seized in connection to the department's KleptoCapture campaign undertaken in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, was owned by Suleiman Kerimov a Russian billionaire.

After the yacht arrived in San Diego, John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor, told NBC 7 that he thinks the U.S. government hopes moves like the Amadea's seizure are efforts to apply pressure to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this month, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said, regarding the Amadea, “The department had its eyes on every yacht purchased with dirty money. This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide — not even in the remotest part of the world. We will use every means of enforcing the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine.”

The court ruling represented a significant victory for the U.S. as it encounters obstacles in its attempts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. While those efforts are welcomed by many who oppose the war in Ukraine, some actions have tested the limits of American jurisdiction abroad.

The United States wasted no time in taking command of the after a Fiji court ruled in its favor and sailed the ship away from the South Pacific nation just hours after the ruling.

"If you could say or somehow prove that this boat … that the oligarch had the money for this boat because he bribed Vladimir Putin, that is public corruption," Kirby said. "It’s a crime even when it takes place outside the United States. The United States can still act upon it."

According the website, the Amadea is not currently for sale, but that may soon change. Until then, you can "shop" for other eye-popping, wallet-busting boats here .

The Associated Press contributed to this report — Ed.

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Italy's multimillion-dollar upkeep of Russian oligarchs' yachts ignites debate

S even yachts owned by Russian oligarchs remain stationed in Italian ports, a direct consequence of assets being frozen amid the conflict in Ukraine. These yachts have not been confiscated and incur significant maintenance expenses. The Italian government has footed a bill of approximately $34.5 million for these costs.

The presence of Russian yachts in Italian ports symbolizes the broader impact of European sanctions against Russia, introduced following the onset of the Ukraine war.

The cost of holding and maintaining these luxury vessels is substantial, burdening the Italian state treasury with million-dollar expenses.

The Italian government has expended around €32 million ($34.5 million) over two years on the upkeep of Russian oligarchs' seized yachts, covering all maintenance costs, from docking fees to routine upkeep, for a total of seven vessels, as reported by the Nexta agency on the X platform.

Italian government covers maintenance costs for confiscated Russian yachts

Maintaining each luxury yacht incurs significant expenses, with the Italian government bearing the full cost. Docking fees range from $13,000 in winter to $32,300 in summer. Moreover, the monthly cost of port-supplied electricity averages $10,800, alongside additional expenses for insurance and fuel. Furthermore, yacht engines require an inspection and maintenance service every 12 months, which can cost up to $54,000 at a time.

Legal restrictions prevent sale and confiscation

The Italian government has expressed an interest in officially confiscating and reselling the yachts of Russian oligarchs. However, legally, these boats remain under the ownership of their original owners, making such actions unfeasible.

"This situation represents a temporary freezing of assets, not a confiscation. Any permanent seizing would face legal challenges as it might infringe upon basic human rights, including the right to property. Arbitrary confiscation by the state is not permissible," stated Andrea Saccucci, legal defender of the Russian oligarchs.

The Kremlin has been forthright in its response, threatening legal action against any attempts to seize Russian nationals' assets. This situation places Italy and other European nations in a difficult quandary.

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Russian Disinformation Videos Smear Biden Ahead of U.S. Election

Many of the videos are trying to appeal to right-wing voters with fake messages about President Biden, experts say.

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By Julian E. Barnes and Steven Lee Myers

Julian Barnes, who covers U.S. intelligence agencies, and Steven Lee Myers, who covers misinformation, have been reporting on Russian efforts to influence the 2024 presidential election.

Last month, a video began circulating on social media purporting to tell the story of an internet troll farm in Kyiv targeting the American election.

Speaking in English with a Slavic accent, “Olesya” offers a first-person account of how she and her colleagues initially worked in support of President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Then, she says, after a visit by mysterious Americans who were “probably C.I.A.,” the group began sending messages to American audiences in support of President Biden.

“We were told our new target was the United States of America, especially the upcoming elections,” the woman in the video says. “Long story short, we were asked to do everything to prevent Donald Trump from winning the elections.”

The video is fake, part of an effort to cloud the political debate ahead of the U.S. elections.

U.S. officials say the video is consistent with Russian disinformation operations as internet warriors aligned with Russia appear to be honing their strategy. Some of the old tactics of 2016 or 2020 could be used again, with new refinements.

An analysis of the video done by U.S. intelligence agencies found that the voice of “Olesya” was synthetically generated, an intelligence official said Thursday, a potential sign of how Russian operatives are blending new techniques with old tactics.

While there has been much hand-wringing over the role that artificial intelligence could play this year in fooling voters, current and former officials said that videos were one of the most immediate threats.

Microsoft said the video featuring “Olesya” probably came from a group it calls Storm-1516, a collection of disinformation experts who now focus on creating videos they hope might go viral in America.

The group most likely includes veterans of the Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-aligned troll farm that sought to influence the 2016 election. The agency was run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group who led a rebellion against the Kremlin and then was killed in a plane crash that American and allied officials believe was orchestrated by Russian intelligence agencies.

Microsoft said the group also included people associated with Valery Korovin, the figurehead of an obscure Moscow-based think tank called the Center for Geopolitical Expertise, a conservative organization affiliated with Aleksandr Dugin, an ultranationalist writer who faces U.S. sanctions for his role in recruiting fighters for the war.

Russian operatives are leaning into videos, many of them that falsely purport to be made by independent journalists or whistle-blowers. The videos, opposed to blog or social media posts, are more likely to spread beyond the conspiratorial fringes of America and become part of mainstream discourse.

On Wednesday afternoon, Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia was the most active threat to the coming election. Russia, she said, tries to erode trust in democratic institutions, exacerbate social divisions and undermine support for Ukraine.

“Russia relies on a vast multimedia influence apparatus, which consists of its intelligence services, cyberactors, state media proxies and social media trolls,” she said. “Moscow most likely views such operations as a means to tear down the United States.”

China has a sophisticated influence operation and is increasingly confident in its ability to affect election results, Ms. Haines said. But she added that the intelligence community assessed that China did not try to influence the 2020 presidential election, and that so far there was no information that China would be more active in this year’s contests.

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said that adversaries had a greater incentive than ever to intervene in elections but that the public had too often treated such meddling “as trivial or quaint.”

Clint Watts, the general manager of Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center, said pushing out written disinformation with bots was largely a waste of time — in 2024 it is disinformation video that has the best chance of spreading with American audiences.

The C.I.A. video, Mr. Watts said, was a classic Russian tactic: accuse your adversary of the very thing you are doing. “When they say there’s a troll farm operated by Zelensky in Ukraine going after the U.S. election, what they’re saying is this is what we’re doing,” Mr. Watts said.

Walter Trosin, a spokesman for the C.I.A., said the agency was not involved in the activities described in the video.

“This claim is patently false and precisely the type of disinformation that the intelligence community has long warned about,” Mr. Trosin said. “C.I.A. is a foreign-focused organization that takes our obligation to remain uninvolved in American politics and elections very seriously.”

At the Senate hearing, Ms. Haines praised the C.I.A. for calling out the video publicly, saying it was an example of how the government will identify disinformation by Russia or other countries during the current election.

Multiple groups in Russia push out disinformation aimed at America . In addition to the videos, researchers and government officials say, Russia has created a handful of fake American local news sites and is using them to push out Kremlin propaganda , interspersed with stories about crime, politics and culture.

Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, who retired from the Army this year and is the former director of the National Security Agency, said the best defense to Russian disinformation remained the same: identifying it and publicizing the propaganda push. The United States, he said, needs to expand its information sharing both domestically and around the world so people can identify, and discount, disinformation spread by Moscow.

“The great antidote to all of this is being able to shine a light on it,” said General Nakasone, who last week was named as the founding director of Vanderbilt University’s new Institute for National Defense and Global Security. “If they are trying to influence or interfere in our elections, we should make it as hard as possible for them.”

Some mainstream Republicans have already warned fellow lawmakers to be wary of repeating claims that originated in Russian disinformation or propaganda.

“We see directly coming from Russia attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor,” Representative Michael R. Turner, an Ohio Republican who is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on April 7.

Russia’s information warriors have pushed fake videos to spread lies about Ukraine , aimed at undermining its credibility or painting it as corrupt. Republican politicians opposed to sending more aid to Ukraine have repeated baseless allegations that Mr. Zelensky has tried through associates to buy a yacht, disinformation that first appeared on a video posted to YouTube and other social media sites.

Most of the videos produced by Storm-1516 fail to get traction. Others come close. A video pushed out on a Russian Telegram channel purported to show Ukrainian soldiers burning an effigy of Mr. Trump, blaming him for delays in aid shipments.

The video was highlighted on Alex Jones’s right-wing conspiracy site, InfoWars, and other English-language outlets. But it was quickly discounted — the purportedly Ukrainian soldiers had Russian accents and were masked.

“This campaign has been working to advance some of Russia’s key objectives, particularly that of portraying Ukraine as a corrupt, rogue state that cannot be trusted with Western aid,” Mr. Watts said.

Since last August, Microsoft has identified at least 30 videos produced by Storm-1516. The first ones were aimed at Ukraine. But others are trying to influence American politics by appealing to right-wing audiences with messages that Mr. Biden is benefiting from Ukrainian assistance.

Intelligence officials, lawmakers and security firms have warned about the use of artificial intelligence by China, Russia and other nation states intent on spreading disinformation. But so far, Russian groups like Storm-1516 have mostly avoided using A.I. tools, according to security firms.

“Many of the A.I. campaigns are easy to detect or unwind,” said Brian Murphy, the general manager of national security at Logically, which tracks disinformation. “A.I. is getting better, but it is still not at the stage this year wherein it is going to be used at the scale and with the quality some predict. Maybe in a year or so.”

Both government officials and outside experts, however, have said that A.I.-altered audio had proved more effective than altered videos. At the hearing on Wednesday, Ms. Haines highlighted a fake audio recording released in Slovakia two days before its parliamentary election. While quickly identified as fake, news and government agencies struggled to disclose the manipulation and the target of the fake recording lost a close election.

Outside experts have said that artificial intelligence has been used in some Russian propaganda videos to obscure accents. It is not clear exactly why a synthetic voice would have been used in the fake video of the C.I.A. troll farm.

But on Wednesday, Ms. Haines said artificial intelligence and other innovations “have enabled foreign influence actors to produce seemingly authentic and tailored messaging more efficiently at greater scale and with content adapted for different languages and cultures.”

For now, though, basic videos like the C.I.A. troll farm or yacht video that purport to have authentic narrators with access to exquisite information are the most prevalent threat.

In 2016, Russian-controlled propagandists could push out fake news articles or social media posts and, in some cases, have an impact. But now, those old techniques do not work.

“No one will pay attention to that nowadays,” Mr. Watts said. “You have to have a video form to really grab an American audience today, which 10 years ago was just not even technically that possible.”

Julian E. Barnes covers the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The Times. He has written about security issues for more than two decades. More about Julian E. Barnes

Steven Lee Myers covers misinformation and disinformation from San Francisco. Since joining The Times in 1989, he has reported from around the world, including Moscow, Baghdad, Beijing and Seoul. More about Steven Lee Myers

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