Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a number of nations have taken actions in response — including targeting some of the Russian oligarchs closest to Vladimir Putin. This has varied dramatically from country to country, but in Italy — where many oligarchs own luxurious homes and keep their yachts docked — local authorities are taking action against those same high-profile signifiers of wealth.
The Guardian reports that the Italian government has confiscated homes and boats from a quartet of oligarchs. The U.S., U.K. and E.U. all maintain lists of oligarchs who are presently being sanctioned, which led the Italian government to take these actions.
The yachts that were impounded belonged to Alexei Mordashov and Gennady Timchenko, while the villas are owned by Vladimir Soloviev and Alisher Usmanov. Mordashov is believed to the wealthiest man in Russia, while Soloviev is a television host there.
According to The Guardian‘s report, the two yachts were worth €65 million and €50 million. Italian authorities plan to confiscate more property belonging to sanctioned individuals in the coming days.
A number of oligarchs chose convenient times to relocate their yachts away from Europe. The process of tracking where these yachts are now has become an object of public fascination. Jack Sweeney, the same guy who created a Twitter bot tracking Elon Musk’s flights, has set up something similar for the yachts of Russian oligarchs.
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