Two more superyachts discovered in Putin's possession
Investigators at the Dossier Centre, founded by Russian political exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky, have discovered two more superyachts used by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, bringing the Russian dictator's fleet to 10 yachts.
Source: Dossier
Details: The newly revealed yachts are the 71-metre Victoria and the 38-metre Orion, an escort vessel.
Victoria was built at the shipyards of Russia's Sevmash military plant together with the Graceful yacht. She is currently undergoing repairs at a Turkish shipyard that prepares ships for the navy of NATO member Türkiye.
The Victoria yacht has been described as the flagship of Putin's Black Sea flotilla. The Victoria left Russia's Sochi port on 21 October and docked west of the Istanbul shipyard two days later. The vessel moved to the docks on early 25 October, switched off its AIS transmitter and ceased to appear on the maps of relevant services.
The investigators managed to see the yacht using a drone. A distinctive feature of the ship, the massive letter V, was captured.
For reference: Early in Putin's second presidential term, the Sevmash military plant, building nuclear submarines, including the modern fourth-generation Yasen and Borey projects, was involved in yacht construction.
The two yachts of the A-1331 project were the only ones produced by the military shipyard. The first one was Victoria, the preparation of which began in 2005, followed by Graceful, the building of which started in 2006.
Graceful took 8 years to build, whereas Victoria was completed in 14 years.
The contract with Sevmash was concluded by businessman Sergey Maslov's company, Julesburg Corp, located in the British Virgin Islands.
Sevmash reported successful testing at the end of 2013. The Victoria was taken to Italy, but the ISA Yachts shipyard never started work, so the vessel was moved to Türkiye in 2015.
The Victoria was completed at the Turkish shipyard AES Yachts on 24 July 2019.
The Victoria can take 28 people on board, but reports indicate that there are usually 11-15 crew members and up to six passengers on the vessel. The cost of the ship, as stated in the 2019 customs declaration, amounts to US$50.1 million. The same document describes the main technical specifications of the yacht, including its design feature: there are two master suites on board. The Graceful boat has as many master suites, and the Russian president's residences always have two separate bedrooms: one for the master and one for the mistress, Dossier noted.
The Victoria is stationed in Sochi and periodically reaches Cape Idokopas, where Putin's palace lies. The vessel switches off its AIS and disappears from the radar just before the cape.
The vessel left Sochi for Crimea in the summer of 2021. The 38.5-metre Orion boat accompanied the yacht on this journey. It was developed in 2009 in Viareggio, Italy.
The Dossier Centre spotted the Victoria in Sochi in a photo posted on the account of Natalia Belugina, a rhythmic gymnast and choreographer of the Alina festival, organised annually by Alina Kabaeva, another Russian gymnast and Putin's mistress. Belugina is a friend of the latter, and they occasionally travel together. A source familiar with the athlete told Dossier that Kabaeva and her family indeed use the boat.
Quote from Dossier: "Vladimir Putin was never photographed on the Victoria, so there is no direct documentary evidence that the yacht belongs to him. However, as with other Russian president's yachts, there is plenty of indirect evidence: a specially selected crew, the ship's route, passing close to the presidential palace, the nominal owner, and the unusual construction history."
Details: After the arrest of the Scheherazade yacht in Italy, the Victoria reportedly became the largest Putin-related yacht in the Black Sea.
The same "southern flotilla" includes:
- The €30 million 54-metre yacht Chaika (formerly Sirius), the only vessel on the balance sheet of the Russian Presidential Affairs Directorate. Putin met with Alexander Lukashenko on board the Chaika in May 2021.
- The 46-metre yacht Shellest worth about US$23.9 million. The Shellest serves as a sailing vessel to get to Putin's palace on Cape Idokopas and has been sailing between Russia's Sochi and Gelendzhik since November 2022.
Putin's flagship in the Baltic Sea is the Graceful. The "northern flotilla" also includes:
- 37-metre Aldoga, completed in Viareggio in 2009. The exact cost of the yacht is unknown; similar ships cost US$14-16 million.
- 32-metre Nega, built in 2013 by the UK company Princess Yachts, costing US$12.2 million.
- a Brizo 46 model boat worth just under US$1.2 million, assigned to Graceful.
Background: In May 2022, reports emerged that the Italian authorities had ordered the arrest of the 140-metre superyacht Scheherazade, whose owner is believed to be Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the port of Marina di Carrara.
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