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Italy won't say who's paying for the care of a $700 million superyacht tied to Putin

Dustin Jones

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Laura Lezza/Getty Images hide caption

The Scheherazade, a 460-foot superyacht, has been held in Italy since May 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is believed to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Scheherazade superyacht was impounded by the Italian government in May 2022 in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Instead of falling into disrepair, Italy has allowed its owner to maintain and refit the vessel, but it won't disclose who is footing the bill.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the vessel has been held at port in Marina di Carrara, located almost 90 miles northwest of Florence, since it was impounded by authorities in the spring of 2022. For over a year, the Italian government has permitted the owner to continue paying for the ship's staff, its maintenance and refitting of the vessel. But Italy won't identify the owner.

Italy's Finance Ministry said in a May 2022 news release that the superyacht had "significant economic and business links" with "prominent elements of the Russian government" but didn't name the owner of the ship.

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According to the website SuperYachtFan , the 460-foot superyacht belongs to Russian billionaire Eduard Khudainatov. However, Bloomberg News reported in 2022 that he is a "straw owner" of the superyacht — as well as another ship — and that the Scheherazade actually belongs to Putin.

The Financial Times reported that the Scheherazade has 22 cabins, two helicopter decks and a spa and that it's being refitted by the Italian Sea Group. NPR reached out to the Italian Sea Group for comment but did not hear back before publication.

The United States created Task Force KleptoCapture in the wake of Putin's war against Ukraine, aiming to hold Russian oligarchs accountable for evading sanctions. In its one year of operation, the task force has brought charges to at least 35 individuals and entities, NPR previously reported.

Part of those efforts included seizing luxury items belonging to billionaires with ties to the Kremlin. This includes items like a 348-foot yacht seized in Fiji in May 2022, which is valued at about $300 million and is now sitting in San Diego.

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$700mn superyacht tied to Putin is being refitted while impounded

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Satellite image shows super yacht linked to Putin out of reach of sanctions

By Catherine Herridge , Michael Kaplan, Andrew Bast, Jessica Kegu

March 3, 2022 / 7:30 AM EST / CBS News

As Europe and the U.S. bear down with a raft of aggressive sanctions targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, the super yacht he is believed to own has found safe harbor in a highly militarized port in Russian territorial waters. In new satellite imagery obtained by CBS News, the yacht can be seen docked in a port in Kaliningrad, near Russia's nuclear weapons operations. 

Experts say Putin's luxury vessel has become a symbol not only of his vast hidden wealth, but also of how challenging that money has been to find. 

"He's a KGB agent, so he's crafty. He knows how to hide when he needs to," said John Smith, former director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers and enforces all foreign sanctions.

Data from MarineTraffic, a global intelligence group, shows Putin's alleged yacht, the Graceful, left Germany two weeks before the invasion of Ukraine . 

Putin's government salary is said to be about $140,000, but that doesn't begin to explain the mansions, million-dollar watch collection and over-the-top yacht. 

"It would be fair to say he's among the richest men in the world," Smith said. 

Though he sells himself as a man of the people, his wealth is estimated to be more than $100 billion. 

Putin's critics allege he also has a cliffside palace that includes an amphitheater and a personal tunnel to the beach that doubles as a security bunker. 

"Of course, he doesn't acknowledge it as being his own," Smith said. "It doesn't fit with the public persona that he's trying to create to actually acknowledge it." 

Putin relies on his oligarch friends to shield his fortune from sanctions, Smith said. 

"So if he asked them to do something, they do it in terms of hiding assets, squirreling them in different parts of the globe, they will do what he needs," he said. 

Those who have tried to expose Putin's fortune have done so at great personal risk. 

Putin critic Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on a bridge in the shadow of the Kremlin in 2015. Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 under questionable circumstances in prison after he exposed $230 million in fraud by Putin's friends. Putin publicly condemned Nemtsov's murder and claimed Magnitsky died of a heart attack.  

His most recent No. 1 critic, Alexei Navalny , who helped expose Putin's lavish palace, emerged as a political rival and found himself repeatedly jailed. He nearly died after being poisoned two years ago, though Putin has denied responsibility for the poisoning. 

"Putin's wealth is one of the most dangerous topics," said Russian journalist Roman Badanin, who spent two decades investigating Putin's financial web. 

Badanin said Russian authorities sought to intimidate and silence his reporting team. Six months ago, he reached his breaking point. 

"I fled the country. My apartment was searched twice. I have like three criminal charges against me back in Russia," he said. 

In his State of the Union address, President Biden said the U.S. and its allies are waging economic war on Putin and Russian oligarchs. 

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments and your private jets," Biden said. 

On Wednesday, the Justice Department announced the formation of a new task force that would target Russian oligarchs. 

"Russia is not a transparent economy," Smith said. "The U.S. and our allies have decent information on some of [Putin's] assets, I think a lot will remain a mystery for a long time in the future." 

The biggest financial hit for Putin would be sanctions on the energy sector, which Smith says the Russian president has used to build up his wealth for years. So far, Washington and the Europeans have been hesitant to do that. 

• Vladimir Putin

Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News covering national security and intelligence based in Washington, D.C.

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$700m superyacht docked in Italy may belong to Putin, say US officials

459ft vessel currently in italian dry dock for repairs, article bookmarked.

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A $700m superyacht being repaired in an Italian dry dock may belong to Vladimir Putin , according to US intelligence officials.

The ownership of the 459ft Scheherazade has come under close scrutiny since Russia ’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine , and the vessel could be associated with Mr Putin, intelligence officials told The New York Times .

American officials told the newspaper that no final conclusions on ownership have been made, but the link backs up a claim made by a former crew member that it was for Mr Putin’s use.

The officials say that Mr Putin keeps little of his personal wealth in his own name, instead using homes and boats that are held in the name of Russian oligarchs.

Mr Putin spent long periods during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Black Sea city of Sochi, where the Scheherazade made trips in the summers of 2020 and 2021, the officials added.

The Biden administration is investigating ownership of super yachts associated with Russian oligarchs as part of the enormous sanctions levied on Russia.

The yacht is currently undergoing repairs in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara.

Guy Bennett-Pearce, the Scheherazade’s captain, has denied that Mr Putin owns the yacht, or has even has put a foot onboard it.

If the US government wanted to seize the yacht out would need the help of the Italian government before it left for Russian waters.

Following US and European Union sanctions against Russia, officials impounded a 213ft yacht owned by Alexei Mordashov in Imperia, Italy and Igor Sechin’s 280-foot yacht in the French port of La Ciotat.

Under US and most European laws, the frozen assets remain owned by the oligarch but cannot be transferred or sold.

Both men will continue to own their yachts but will be prevented by authorities from moving them to pro-Russian locations.

To seize a yacht government prosecutors would have to prove that the property was part of a crime.

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Italy investigating mystery owner of $700m superyacht rumored to be putin’s.

Italian police are investigating a mysterious $700 million superyacht moored there — amid ongoing rumors that it is owned by warmongering Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Scheherazade’s captain confirmed to the New York Times that Italian investigators boarded the 459-foot vessel in Marina di Carrara on Friday, demanding proof of ownership for what locals have long dubbed “Putin’s yacht.”

“They are looking hard. They are looking at every aspect,” Captain Guy Bennett-Pearce told the paper amid ongoing moves to seize Russian oligarchs’ yachts .

“This isn’t the local coppers coming down, these are men in dark suits,” said the British national, using a UK term for police officers.

Bennett-Pearce refused to reveal the identity of the owner of the yacht, whose crew was at least 70 percent Russian, he said.

But he said he had “no choice” but to this week hand over documents revealing the owner’s identity to the investigating squad, which a source told the Times was led by Italian financial police.

One of the most expensive yachts in the world, Scheherazade has a swimming pool that converts to a dance floor, gold-plated fixtures, two helicopter decks and numerous satellite domes, the report said.

“Scheherazade” is the title of a symphonic work by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and each of the last two summers the yacht has sailed to Sochi, the Times said of the Russian city where Putin is rumored to own a personal “palace.”

“Everybody calls it Putin’s yacht,” one local, retired clerk Ernesto Rossi, told the Times. “It’s a rumor that’s been going around for months.”

One former crew member told the Times that shipmates also called it “Putin’s yacht,” saying that when in use by the owner, it was manned by an all-Russian staff.

Bennett-Pearce admitted that he had also heard the rumor and local nickname, but said that a “watertight nondisclosure agreement” prevented him from identifying the owner.

However, he denied it was Putin, telling the paper, “I have never seen him. I have never met him.”

Confirming his plan to finally tell the Italian investigators the owner’s identity, he told the paper, “I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this will clear the vessel of all negative rumors and speculations.”

Get the latest updates in the Russia-Ukraine conflict with The Post’s live coverage.

The Scheherazade’s builder, Lurssen Group, declined to comment to the paper about its ownership.

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Putin's alleged $700M superyacht seized in Italy

Zelenskyy pushes for harsher sanctions as the war in ukraine persists.

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Italian officials seized a $700 million luxury yacht with ties to the Russian government , Rome's ministry of finance announced Friday. 

Italian authorities scrambled to investigate the nearly 460-foot superyacht known as the Scheherazade, which was dry-docked in the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara as concerns mounted the Kremlin-linked vessel would set out to Italian waters shortly. 

RUSSIA MOVES FORCES TO MARIUPOL AHEAD OF 'VICTORY DAY' PARADE, OFFICIALS WORK TO RESCUE TRAPPED TROOPS

The yacht was seized under coordinated measures with the European Union due to Russia's involvement in "undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

The Scheherazade, a 459-foot luxury yacht, is docked at the shipyard in Marina Di Carrara, Italy, March 23, 2022. (Francesco Mazzei/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The finance ministry said the vessel, which flew the flag of the Cayman Islands, "had long been under the attention of the authorities."

Despite the acknowledged investigation that found the yacht to have "prominent" links to Russians targeted under EU sanctions, Italian officials omitted the name of the owner of the Scheherazade.

Some reporting has suggested the Scheherazade belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin, while other reports have pointed to Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian former executive of a state-owned oil company, .

Italy's financial police patrol boat is seen in front of the multimillion-dollar megayacht Scheherazade, which is docked at the Tuscan port of Marina di Carrara, Tuscany, May 6, 2022.  (Federico Scoppa/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Khudainatov does not appear to have yet been specifically sanctioned, but a decree passed by Italian Finance Minister Daniele Franco barred the vessel from sailing away.

GERMANY ANNOUNCES BAN ON UKRAINIAN FLAGS DURING WWII VICTORY DAY PARADE: 'SLAP IN THE FACE'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy specifically referenced the megayacht in a March address to Italy’s parliament in a plea for action.

"Don't be a resort for murderers," he said in a translated address. "Block all their real estate, accounts and yachts — from Scheherazade to the smallest ones. Block the assets of all those who have influence in Russia."

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with top officials about support to the aviation industry in Russia amid western sanctions via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, March 31, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP / AP Images)

Ukraine has pressed the international community to impose harsher sanctions on Russia as it has continued its deadly war in Ukraine for more than 10 weeks.

The U.S., along with several European nations, have made moves to cut Russian oil ties, while others have pledged to do so by the end of 2022. 

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Zelenskyy slammed EU nations that continue to purchase Russian oil, its No. 1 export.

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"You shouldn’t be a little evil and a little good. It is inadmissible to impose sanctions and with another hand to sign new contracts with Russia. This is definitely inadmissible in times of war. This is hypocrisy," Zelenskyy said during a virtual address to the U.K.’s Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House Friday.

Russian opposition group report says it's identified another superyacht belonging to Vladimir Putin

• A Russian military plant built Vladimir Putin a 71-meter superyacht, according to a new report.
• The report was written by the Dossier Center, a Russian opposition group funded by an exiled oligarch.
• Putin's rumored mistress often uses the yacht on vacation, according to the report.

Vladimir Putin's newest known superyacht is 71 meters long, cost an estimated $50 million to build, and can carry up to 28 people, according to a new report from Russian opposition group the Dossier Center.

The vessel, called the Victoria, is based in Sochi but in October docked at a Turkish port near Istanbul for repairs, according to ship tracking data cited in the report. Construction on the yacht began in 2005 at a Russian military facility that typically produces nuclear submarines, according to the report, citing unnamed sources close to Putin.

The Dossier Center, an investigative outlet funded by exiled petroleum oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky – by some estimates, once the richest man in Russia – last month revealed that Russia had accidentally doxed its own spies by uploading their addresses onto a public city hall website.

We found the secret yacht of Vladimir Putin docked at a naval shipyard of a NATO (!) country. How is this possible and what does it tell us about the character of his regime? 🧵 Read on to find out (and see pictures) - 1/18 pic.twitter.com/RhIzjmFbz3 — Mikhail Khodorkovsky (@khodorkovsky_en) November 22, 2023

Officially, Putin takes a salary of about $140,000 a year and lives in a small Moscow apartment – but extensive reporting shows the dictator almost certainly controls numerous estates and a small flotilla of luxury yachts . While there's no official estimate of his net worth, observers have pegged it in the tens of billions of dollars.

After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, authorities seized a $700 million superyacht linked to Putin with six floors, two helipads, a swimming pool , a beauty salon, and gold-plated bathrooms.

Victoria is nowhere near as grand. It has just two master cabins, according to the Dossier Center's report. But it also has the distinction of being linked to former Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva, rumored to be Putin's mistress and the father of his children.

Given how it looks like from inside – who wouldn't be tempted? 15/18 pic.twitter.com/pCCQ6YLqKd — Mikhail Khodorkovsky (@khodorkovsky_en) November 22, 2023

Kabaeva's friend, another Russian gymnast and the choreography director of a gymnastics festival Kabaeva organizes, posted a photo of herself on social media with the yacht in the background. And an anonymous source told The Dossier Center that Kabaeva often vacations on the Victoria.

Spokespeople for the Russian president and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Watch: Inside Putin's secret bunker and billion-dollar palace

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Vladimir Putin and His OTT Superyacht Collection

Vladimir Putin is one of the most polarising political figures in the world. Love him, or hate him, he has a stronghold over the Russian political system and is therefore likely to be in the public consciousness for many years to come. He has accumulated a massive estimated fortune of $70-200 billion and has made sure to spend it on what matters: building his own superyacht fleet (because one isn’t enough, apparently). Read on to find out all about the boats that make up his $150 million collection.

The Graceful

The Graceful is both the largest and most expensive yacht in Putin’s current collection. It was built by Sevmash in Russia before heading to Germany for outfitting by  Blohm + Voss  in 2014. The Graceful was then sold to the billionaire for a staggering $100 million. If you thought the outright cost was outrageous, wait until you hear its annual running costs ($5-10 million every year). The Graceful is a sleek and stylish steel/aluminium ship that features good looking design by  H2 . The yacht is a party palace, with space to accommodate up to 14 guests and a 15×10 foot dance floor to keep visitors entertained. When the dance floor is not in use, it handily transforms into a luxurious indoor pool.  

Chayka, which means ‘The Seagull’ in English, is the next superyacht belonging to Vladimir Putin. The 54m vessel was built in 2009 by the Turkish shipyard Turquoise Yachts. Two years later, after chartering the vessel, Putin decided to buy it for the Russian Presidential Administration. Chayka was purchased to host formal events and meetings between political figures. With a swimming pool, jacuzzi, gym and beach club as well as a 100sqm dining room, it certainly can’t be the worst place to go on a business trip. The superyacht is estimated to be worth $34-45 million.

The Olympia

The third superyacht owned by the Russian President (and apparently his personal favourite) is The Olympia. Built in 2002 by renowned Dutch shipbuilder  Feadship , the 57m vessel features interior design by Mark Hampton and John Gallagher. Not very much is known about this vessel, just that it is rumoured to have been a gift from Roman Abramovich to Putin. If the rumours are true, the vessel, which has an estimated cost of $35-50 million, surely has to be one of the most extravagant gifts ever given.

The final yacht owned by Vladimir Putin is the somewhat more humble Petrel, which measures 35m in length. Unfortunately, Petrel remains mysterious, with very little information available. We know that Petrel has a maximum speed of 14 knots and a cruising speed of 10 knots. The elegantly decorated cabins with private balconies can house 16 guests comfortably and 12 crew members. Whilst the price of the vessel is unknown, a similar model is known to have sold at $16.8 million, so a price tag in this region is likely.

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A 459-Foot Mystery in a Tuscan Port: Is It a Russian’s Superyacht?

As European authorities go after the luxury assets of oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin, a superyacht cloaked in secrecy has come under investigation.

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By Michael Forsythe Gaia Pianigiani and David D. Kirkpatrick

From Germany’s North Sea ports to the French Riviera, open season has been declared on superyachts. Across Europe, authorities are hunting down luxury vessels tied to Russian oligarchs in the effort to inflict pain on President Vladimir V. Putin’s allies.

In Marina di Carrara, a small Italian town on the Tuscan coast, one of the world’s biggest, newest and most expensive superyachts — called the Scheherazade — is under scrutiny by the Italian police. Almost as long as a U.S. guided-missile destroyer, it dominates the waterfront.

The yacht, estimated by the website SuperYachtFan to cost about $700 million, has two helicopter decks and is studded with satellite domes. Inside, photos supplied by a former crew member show, is a swimming pool with a retractable cover that converts to a dance floor. Then there’s the fully equipped gym and the gold-plated fixtures in the bathrooms.

In the rarefied world of the biggest superyachts ( only 14 that are at least 140 meters, or 459 feet long), the Scheherazade is alone in that no likely owner has been publicly identified. That has spurred speculation that it could be a Middle Eastern billionaire or a superconnected Russian — even Mr. Putin.

The ship’s captain, Guy Bennett-Pearce, a British national, denied that Mr. Putin owned or had ever been on the yacht. “I have never seen him. I have never met him,” he said. He added, in a phone interview from the yacht, that its owner was not on any sanctions list. He did not rule out that the person could be Russian, but declined to say more about the owner’s identity, citing a “watertight nondisclosure agreement.”

Captain Bennett-Pearce said that Italian investigators had come aboard on Friday and examined some of the ship’s certification documents. “They are looking hard. They are looking at every aspect,” he said. “This isn’t the local coppers coming down, these are men in dark suits.” A person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it, confirmed that the Italian financial police had opened an inquiry.

On Monday night, Captain Bennett-Pearce said he had “no choice” but to hand over documents revealing the owner’s identity to the Italian authorities. He said he would do so on Tuesday and had been told they would be handled with “confidentiality.”

“I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this will clear the vessel of all negative rumors and speculations,” he wrote in a message to a New York Times reporter.

The mystery about the ship’s owner arose because — even for the hyper-confidential world of superyachting — there is an unusual degree of secrecy surrounding this vessel. Not only do contractors and crew members sign nondisclosure agreements, as on many superyachts, but the ship also has a cover to hide its name plate. And when it first arrived at the port, workers erected a tall metallic barrier on the pier to partly obscure the yacht from onlookers. Some locals remarked that they had never seen anything like it for other boats.

In his State of the Union address last week, President Biden announced a Justice Department task force to go after oligarchs close to Mr. Putin and facing sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions have been imposed against hundreds of people, and the list keeps growing.

Last week, French authorities seized the yacht Amore Vero near Marseille as it was preparing to depart, claiming it was owned by a man on that list: Igor Sechin, the head of the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft. In Italy, police in Sanremo impounded Lena, a yacht belonging to Gennady Timchenko, a Putin friend who controls an oil exporting company. In nearby Imperia, police also impounded the Lady M, a yacht belonging to Alexei Mordashov, Russia’s richest man. The fate of the Dilbar, one of the world’s biggest yachts that the United States says belongs to the oligarch Alisher Usmanov, is unclear. It is in Hamburg, and German officials said the vessel could not leave without an export waiver, Bloomberg News reported .

Some of the biggest superyachts are owned by Russians who are not on the sanctions list. The world’s second-largest, Eclipse, which has a missile defense system and a mini submarine, is owned by Roman Abramovich, the billionaire who is selling his ownership stake in the British soccer club Chelsea. Andrey Melnichenko, a billionaire coal baron, owns Sailing Yacht A.

Determining the ownership of assets that the wealthy want to keep hidden is difficult, especially without a warrant, because they are often zealously guarded by private bankers and lawyers and tucked away in opaque shell companies in offshore secrecy havens. The Scheherazade is flagged in the Cayman Islands and its owner, Bielor Assets Ltd. , is registered in the Marshall Islands. The yacht’s management company, which Captain Bennett-Pearce says is also registered in the Cayman Islands, works from the ship and uses his rental villa in nearby Lucca as its address.

One trade website, which bills itself as “the global authority in superyachting,” claims that the vessel’s owner is “known to be a Middle Eastern billionaire.” The Scheherazade shares a name with the female storyteller in “The Arabian Nights,” and it made one brief foray into the Red Sea in September 2020, calling at the Egyptian port of Hurghada. But mostly it stays in Marina di Carrara, where it has been moored since last September.

Locals have their own theory about the ship’s ownership. Some have heard people onboard speaking Russian. And Scheherazade is also the title of a symphonic work by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

“Everybody calls it Putin’s yacht, but nobody knows whose it is,” said Ernesto Rossi, a retired clerk who was taking a walk along the marina’s promenade on Friday. “It’s a rumor that’s been going around for months.”

In Italy, the phrase “Putin’s yacht” has become shorthand for a mysterious and ultra-luxurious ship. It’s also a joke among the dozens of crew members, Captain Bennett-Pearce said. “I’ve heard the same rumors.”

Another, smaller vessel, the Graceful, has long been tied to the Russian president and is known as “Putin’s yacht.” It was tracked leaving Germany for the Russian port of Kaliningrad just weeks before the invasion of Ukraine. (U.S. government officials point out that Mr. Putin owns little outright; many of the luxurious homes or ships he uses are owned by oligarchs.)

Mr. Putin appears to have a penchant for big pleasure boats. During his time as Russia’s leader, he’s been photographed on yachts from Russia’s northern reaches to the Black Sea in the south. Last May, he and Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, took a cruise on a yacht at the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

The Scheherazade’s builder, Lurssen Group, whose website promises customers “complete confidentiality,” declined to comment about its ownership. Until June 2020, when the completed ship left the pier in Bremen, Germany, it had the code name “Lightning.” The same company built the even bigger superyacht the Dilbar. A similar gigantic yacht, code-named “Luminance,” is now being built at Lurssen, scheduled to be completed next year.

“Of course, all orders and projects of the Lurssen Group and its subsidiaries are treated in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations,” said Oliver Grun, a company spokesman.

About 70 percent of the Scheherazade’s crew is Russian, Captain Bennett-Pearce said. And during each of the past two summers, it has sailed to Sochi, the last time in early July 2021, according to MarineTraffic, a top maritime analytics provider. The ship’s construction was managed by Imperial Yachts, a company in Monaco that, Reuters reported , manages the Amore Vero, Mr. Sechin’s seized yacht. Nick Flashman, who oversees construction of large vessels at Imperial Yachts, declined to comment.

One former crew member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nondisclosure agreement, said that shipmates called it “Putin’s yacht.” The person said the ship was manned by an international crew during “boss off” times; when it was “boss on,” the crew was replaced by an all-Russian staff. In the weeks before the Scheherazade’s 2020 trip to the Black Sea, the foreign crew was dismissed, the person said.

The former crew member supplied photos of rosters of both international and Russian crew members. The Times reached out, via social media, phone or email, to at least 17 of them. Few responded.

One of the Russians said only that he had worked on the Scheherazade, citing a nondisclosure agreement. Another person said it would be dangerous to talk. One man denied serving on the vessel; another said he hadn’t worked at sea in 25 years.

Captain Bennett-Pearce said “categorically there is not a European crew that comes on and a Russian crew that comes on.” Many of the ship’s senior officers are from Britain, New Zealand and Spain. Many international crew members were dismissed in 2020, replaced by Russians who didn’t demand the high salaries and benefits that their predecessors had, the captain said. “It came down to economics,” he said.

Given the antipathy that people outside of Russia have toward Mr. Putin, if the Russian president really were the owner or principal user of the yacht, keeping non-Russian senior crew members like him on staff would make no sense, Captain Bennett-Pearce said.

“If there’s a European crew onboard it’s the biggest smoke and mirror and the biggest risk I’ve ever heard of,” he said.

Reporting was contributed by Dmitriy Khavin , Christoph Koettl , Julian E. Barnes , Jason Horowitz , Rebecca R. Ruiz and Eric Schmitt .

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to the new task force announced by President Biden in his State of the Union address. He announced a Justice Department task force to pursue and seize the assets of oligarchs associated with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, not a joint task force with partners in Europe, which was previously announced.

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Michael Forsythe is a reporter on the investigations team. He was previously a correspondent in Hong Kong, covering the intersection of money and politics in China. He has also worked at Bloomberg News and is a United States Navy veteran. More about Michael Forsythe

Gaia Pianigiani is a reporter based in Italy for The New York Times.  More about Gaia Pianigiani

David D. Kirkpatrick is an investigative reporter based in New York and the author of “Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East.“ In 2020 he shared a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on covert Russian interference in other governments and as the Cairo bureau chief from 2011 to 2015 he led coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings. More about David D. Kirkpatrick

Putin's superyachts targeted in latest round of U.S. sanctions

The White House announced a new round of sanctions Thursday against Russia over its assault on Ukraine , which include targeting four yachts linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Treasury Department said Putin has taken numerous trips on two of the yachts, the Russia-flagged Graceful and the Cayman Islands-flagged Olympia, "including a 2021 trip in the Black Sea where he was joined by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the OFAC-designated corrupt ruler of Belarus, who has supported Russia’s war against Ukraine." (OFAC is the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.) 

The Treasury Department also identified two other yachts it said are linked to Putin — the Shellest and the Nega. "Shellest periodically travels to the coast where President Putin’s infamous Black Sea Palace is located, and President Putin uses Nega for travel in Russia’s North," the agency said in a news release.

The U.S. first sanctioned Putin in February. Some experts have  estimated  that his net worth is in the tens of billions; he has buried his wealth behind numerous shell companies, making it  difficult  to locate and freeze his assets. The Treasury Department said Thursday that the Olympia and the Graceful are owned by a company owned by the Russian government, while the Shellest and the Nega are owned by a Russian company.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new sanctions were designed "to degrade the networks allowing Russia’s elites, including President Putin, to anonymously make use of luxury assets around the globe."

As part of the effort, the U.S. sanctioned Imperial Yachts SARL, a yacht brokerage it said is aligned with the Kremlin and provides "yacht-related services to Russia’s elites, including those in President Putin’s inner circle."

"When not in use by their owners, superyachts can be offered for charter through businesses such as Imperial Yachts, generating income for the owners, who are in some cases Russia’s oligarchs," the Treasury Department said.

In a statement Thursday, Imperial Yachts called the accusations "false" and said it "will pursue all available legal remedies to resolve this matter promptly."

"We are not involved in our clients’ financial affairs,” the company said.

The Treasury Department took aim at Putin allies, as well, including business leaders and government officials. Sergei Pavlovich Roldugin , whom the Treasury Department identified as a close friend of Putin's who helps manage his offshore wealth, was sanctioned, as was Yury Slyusar, the president of a state-owned company that is a major aircraft supplier for the Russian military.

The sanctions also targeted yachts and luxury aircraft belonging to other oligarchs, including a yacht called the Sea Rhapsody and a jet that have been linked to Andrei Kostin , the previously sanctioned head of Russia's VTB Bank.

Andrei Vladimirovich Skoch, a billionaire member of the Russian Duma who was also previously sanctioned , has been linked to a Cayman Islands-flagged yacht called the Madame Gu, a helicopter housed on the yacht and a private plane. The Treasury Department said that the 324-foot Madame Gu is valued at $156 million and that it "includes an elevator, beach club, gym, and requires significant maintenance and repair, including approximately $1 million for painting annually."

Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News.