Vladimir Putin’s £500 million megayacht seized by Italian police before it could flee

Vladimir-Putin´s-£500-million-megayacht

Image: Vladimir Putin. Credit: Shutterstock.

Vladimir Putin’s £500 million megayacht Scheherazade was seized by Italian police on Friday, May 6.

The Russian´s leaders megayacht has been undergoing repairs at a port in Tuscany since September last year.

Italy’s finance ministry said that the boat’s owner had ties to “prominent elements of the Russian government”.

“The investigations conducted by the Nucleo Speciale di Polizia Valutaria (Guardia di Finanza) highlighted the presence of significant economic and business links of the beneficial owner of the boat Scheherazade with prominent elements of the Russian government and with other subjects,” a statement from the ministry said.

The yacht, which has six decks, two helipads, and, reportedly, a self playing piano, was seized under EU sanctions brought over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Pictures obtained by The Sun earlier this year shows that the opulent vessel includes a judo gym, with framed pictures of black belts.

And a tiled dancefloor that lowers to turn into a pool. This exceptional
feature is thought to be on one of only two on ships in the world — the other is on Putin’s yacht Graceful, The Sun reports.

The owner of the Scheherazade, according to some reports, is Eduard Khudainatov, the former chief of Russian energy giant Rosneft.

But US officials told the New York Times it could belong to Russia’s president.

Supporters of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have also linked the 140m vessel to President Putin.


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Written by

Fergal MacErlean

Originally from Dublin, Fergal is based on the eastern Costa del Sol and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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