88 Global News Post 3: $700m Superyacht in Italy belongs to Putin

‘Mysterious’: the $700m superyacht in Italy some say belongs to Putin by Angela Giuffrida

This article shares about this mysterious 140-meter-long, six-floor superyacht in Marina di Carrara, a town on Italy’s Tuscan coast. Italy’s government has identified this yacht is owned by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and is worth around $700m (£528m). The activist on Twitter has written that “They are Russian state employees, military personnel, and they regularly travel to Italy as a group to work on the mysterious yacht”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called on Italy to confiscate the boat, saying that Putin and his wealthy allies frequently vacationed in Italy and that their assets should be frozen. “Don’t be a resort for murderers,” he said. “Lock all their real estate, accounts and yachts – from the Scheherazade to the smallest ones.”

The article discusses overall opposition to Russian citizens’ property in Italy’s land. This article also mentioned other superyachts Russian wealthy citizens owned in Marina di Carrara, Italy; this place is a popular vacation spot for Russian oligarchs, who have purchased homes and beach resorts there.

The article included a video showing the mystery luxury yacht that the Italian government has no idea who the owner is. Despite the EU sanctions, the Italian Sea Group said it was continuing to work on the ship’s €6 million (£5 million) refit and maintenance, and that the vessel “is not attributable to the property of Russian president Vladimir Putin” or owned by a Russian on the sanction list, according to documents in its possession.