Two of "Putin's Yachts" Leave Russia, Bound for Turkey
Two of the many superyachts linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin have departed their home country and gotten under way, signaling on AIS that they are headed for Turkey.
The 270-foot superyacht Graceful (also known as Kosatka) made a timely exit from Germany shortly before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. She returned to Kaliningrad, later relocating to St. Petersburg, and remained in the Baltic with AIS turned off for four years - until June 28, when she reappeared on tracking at a position just south of Copenhagen.
Graceful was noticed by ship-spotters in the Baltic Sea, outbound through the Kattegat under heavy escort. She was accompanied by the Voevoda, a yacht-like government "rescue vessel" - which is also suspected of filling a presidential transport role - and by the Udaloy-class destroyer Severomorsk. While the Russian Navy routinely escorts Russia-linked tankers in the Baltic, the assignment of a destroyer to guard a yacht is out of the ordinary.
Upon exiting the Skaggerak, Graceful turned off her AIS once more and disappeared from public tracking.
Graceful is a 270-foot superyacht delivered by Blohm+Voss in 2014. She is valued at about $100 million, and is the second-largest yacht linked to Putin.
Another Putin-linked yacht, the Victoria (IMO 1009663), turned on her AIS in the Black Sea on June 16. She got under way last week, also headed for Turkey, and is now anchored off the small resort town of Torba in the Adriatic Sea.
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The Victoria has been linked to rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who many Russia analysts believe to be Putin's mistress. Like several vessels suspected of belonging to the Russian leader, Victoria is officially owned by a Russian businessman who has personal ties to Putin; the businessman appears to lack the financial means to sustain so many yachts on his own. Unusually, Victoria was built by Sevmash, the sole shipyard in Russia that builds nuclear submarines - and not ordinarily a builder of superyachts.
The largest yacht linked to Putin, Scheherazade, has been in shipyard in Italy since the beginning of the war in 2022. It was seized by Italian authorities early on in the Ukraine conflict.