Today we’re offering you the finest and most wonderful activity in the world. Today, together, we’re going to take $700 million away from Putin — or 75 billion rubles at today’s exchange rate. To do that, first, we’ll need this list — the European Union sanctions list. And second, we’ll need to go to Italy!
If a person is under personal sanctions, like Putin, that means any of their property found in the European Union is automatically frozen. Houses, planes, helicopters, yachts — everything must be seized immediately.
Does Vladimir Putin own property in Europe? At first glance, it seems impossible. Putin hates everything European. Just listen to him. The other day, he called everyone oriented toward a Western way of life “national traitors.” And he considers the West an “empire of lies.”
But if you look a little closer, it turns out that Vladimir Vladimirovich is a hypocrite. His daughters own real estate in France. This marvelous château on the Atlantic coast, for example.
Activists recently entered it and found documents belonging to Putin’s son-in-law, as well as magazines featuring Putin himself.
And Putin’s ex-wife, Lyudmila, is also renovating this lovely villa for herself in Biarritz, France.
And Putin’s closest friends are abroad too. All of Putin’s oligarchs live in the West: Usmanov, Deripaska, Abramovich. They’re on the Russian Forbes list, yet somehow they live anywhere but Russia.
And we also know that Putin adores luxury. He’s a simple man in that sense: if something is super expensive and super gilded, he has to have it. Putin likes Italian marble, gold leaf, carved furniture, and ornate monograms — what can you do.
And one last thing to remember for our investigation. The main Putin trick, so familiar to us from the palace story: if something really belongs to Putin, what matters is not whose name it’s registered under, but who controls it.
This is the Italian port of Marina di Carrara, on Italy’s west coast. And here in the harbor sits a magnificent yacht with a mysterious name: Scheherazade.
This yacht costs 75 billion rubles.
It is 140 meters long, with six deck levels — like two floating Khrushchyovkas (Soviet-era apartment blocks) docked together.
It has everything you could possibly imagine: two helipads, a pool, a spa complex, a beauty salon, enormous lounges, and palatial cabins. And this yacht has a remarkable story.
If you open the list of the world’s largest yachts, our Scheherazade is easy to find. For example, in third place is Eclipse, Abramovich’s yacht.
In fifth place is Dilbar — you know that one too. It belongs to oligarch Usmanov (and has been seized, by the way).
And here, in 13th place, is Scheherazade. And there’s something very interesting about it. Unlike the other yachts on the list, no one knows who Scheherazade belongs to. In other words, it is the largest yacht in the world whose owner is officially unknown.
Many people write and say that this is Putin’s yacht. But unfortunately, there still isn’t solid proof. The New York Times wrote about this yacht, saying there were rumors that it belonged to Putin. You can read about it in many places. There even seems to be some kind of investigation underway, but they still can’t identify the owner. Apparently, the yacht hasn’t even been seized. Which means neither the police nor journalists have enough evidence yet. Sounds like a job for us, doesn’t it?
To prove that the palace in Gelendzhik belongs to Putin, we showed that Putin’s friends paid for it, that it was registered to anonymous fronts, and that the Federal Protective Service was handling the construction and interior finishing. And here we’ll do the same. If the yacht’s owner can’t be identified directly (it’s some offshore company in the Marshall Islands), then we’ll try to establish who works on it and who pays their salaries!
We have in our hands a unique document. Probably the most important document a vessel can have. It’s called a Crew List — that is, a list of the crew, everyone who works on the yacht Scheherazade. The list was compiled in the same Italian port where the yacht is currently docked.
It is sorted by rank — the captain at the top, then his officers, the boatswains, and at the very bottom some local extra port workers. Right at the top is Captain Guy Bennett-Pearce.
He is the one the NYT recently interviewed for its article. He admitted nothing. He said, essentially: yes, the yacht belongs to some Russian, but I won’t say who.
This document contains the name of every crew member and all their details, from date of birth to visa number. And one thing is impossible to miss: all of the yacht’s permanent staff, except the captain, are Russian. We verified this information using their passport numbers and dates of birth. In leaked airline travel data, we found almost all of these people. These Russian crew members really do fly to Milan as if reporting for shift work. Milan is the nearest major city to where the yacht is wintered and serviced.
But there is something else that links almost all the key people on this list. They work for the FSO — the Federal Protective Service, the agency that guards Putin and manages his day-to-day life.
Let’s open our list. Right after the captain comes the Chief Officer — the senior first mate, the second most important person on the vessel — Sergei Grishin.
In phone contact databases, he appears as “Sergei G FSO.”
Next is boatswain Anatoly Furtel.
According to leaked databases, he is registered at 10 Furmanov Street, Sochi.
Let’s remember that address — we’ll come across it again. It is home to the FSO’s Caucasus security service. In other words, the FSO unit that supports Putin’s life at the Bocharov Ruchey residence — one of his favorite residences, where he spends a great deal of time and receives guests.
Below Furtel we see Alexander Pechurkin in the position of assistant boatswain.
In contact databases, this man appears as “Sanya FSB,” “Bocharov Ruchey Security,” “Alexander FSO,” and “Alexander Graceful Procurement.”
“Graceful” was Putin’s previous yacht, worth 10 billion rubles.
After Scheherazade was purchased, Graceful was re-registered to Putin’s friend Gennady Timchenko.
Below Pechurkin we see Evgeny Shvedov, listed as “Landing hand.”
His position apparently means that he assists with helicopter landings. The yacht has two helipads — one at the bow and one at the stern. Shvedov lists military unit 38974 on the same Furmanov Street as his place of work, and his job title as security officer.
We look up the military unit and see that this man works as a guard in that same FSO Caucasus security service.
Next is Alexander Khristoforov, a sailor-carpenter.
He is also FSO, registered on Furmanov Street.
Below him is Sergei Brikalov, listed as “Deck Dive.”
In contact databases, he appears under the straightforward label: “FSO Sergei Brikalov.” Apparently, he is a diver responsible for the underwater part of the yacht.
Next we have three people in a row with the same position: Security Deckhand. Roughly speaking, yacht security. And all three of them, as you may have guessed, are FSO officers.
Alexander Yasko listed that same Sochi FSO unit as his place of work.
Vitaly Belenko appears in other people’s phones as “Vitaly FSO,” “Vitaly FSB,” “Vitalya Yacht,” and “VVP.” And that “VVP” is unlikely to stand for gross domestic product.
The same Belenko listed his place of work in a credit history database as the FSO of Russia’s Caucasus Security Directorate.
And the third guard is Sergei Koblev — here we have the full set. Registration at an FSO military unit:
Employment with the FSO:
In contact databases, he appears as “FSO Koblev Sergei” and “Seryi Bocharovka.” “Bocharovka” refers to Putin’s Bocharov Ruchey residence.
There is one more staff member — our favorite — but he does not work for the FSO. His name is Roman Vlasov, and he is a steward.
But his more precise specialization becomes clear from his work history and contact records. In 2018 and 2019, he worked as a bartender in Krasnodar Krai.
And in contact databases, he is listed as a hookah attendant. We hope he is putting those skills to use on this yacht as well, so the owner doesn’t miss his signature hookahs when he can’t relax in the hookah-strip club at the Gelendzhik palace.
So, on just the first two pages of the crew list, we see 23 people, nearly half of whom are connected to the FSO. We can think of no better proof that this yacht belongs to Putin. Even in Italy, thousands of kilometers from Moscow, it is staffed by people who are officially listed as Putin’s guards and personal staff. The very same people who manage Putin’s daily life at his residences and on his trips all fly together to Italy to work on one of the most expensive yachts in the world.
Let’s take a close look at it. Especially since we managed to speak directly with crew members and learned some very interesting details from them.
Here it is: the brand-new 140-meter yacht Scheherazade, with two helipads.
The yacht consists of six deck levels. The lower deck contains technical areas, kitchens, a dining room, meeting rooms, and a crew recreation area; there is also a laundry room and several crew cabins.
The main entrance is on the principal deck, which also houses six guest cabins, a formal dining room, and a spa. There are massage rooms, a pool, thermal facilities, and various saunas: Turkish, Finnish, and a cryosauna. Incidentally, cryosaunas like these are found in every Putin residence. There is also a beauty salon offering machine-assisted treatments, as well as hydro-massage, a gym, and equipment for diving and fishing.
The upper deck contains a gigantic lounge, a dining room, two VIP cabins, and a mechanical grand piano that, as one crew member told us with some amazement, plays by itself like in the movies. There is also a billiards room where the table is equipped with a mechanism that keeps it level when the yacht rolls. There is also a gas fireplace here. In fact, the fireplaces are a particular point of pride on the yacht. There are three of them: two gas and one wood-burning, which is an enormous rarity even for superyachts.
Above that is the owner’s deck. It is divided into two zones. The first is the owner’s area, with his bedroom, a separate private spa room, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi, a dressing room, and an office. The second zone on this deck is for the owner’s companion, and consists of a huge bedroom, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi, and a dressing room.
Above that is the bridge. The captain’s cabin is there as well.
We can see some kind of ship’s bell.
And at the very top is the so-called sun deck, the smallest level.
We can see a Jacuzzi here.
But this level is mostly technical space; for example, the elevator shaft ends here.
Another curious detail: there is a helicopter hangar on the main deck. You can see it clearly here. When necessary, the deck opens up and the helicopter is lowered inside the yacht so it doesn’t get in the way of people walking on deck.
There are no open-air swimming pools on the yacht; we were told that the owner decided against them for privacy reasons. But there are four outdoor Jacuzzis. Two at the rear of the yacht:
And two at the front:
Inside the yacht, you can find a model of this truly remarkable vessel. And a book that apparently comes with the yacht as part of the package.
If you have been following our investigations and others about Putin, then you have long known Putin’s main rule: steal, but never register anything in your own name. That is why Putin has surrounded himself with a dozen of his most trusted people, who hold his billions for him. The famous cellist Roldugin, his daughter’s godfather, holds Putin’s offshore companies. The whole world knows this.
Mikhail Shelomov — the son of Putin’s cousin — holds Putin’s stakes in Gazprom and SOGAZ. And also manages the palace.
The president’s vineyards in Gelendzhik were registered to Nikolai Yegorov, one of Putin’s former classmates. Putin’s childhood friend Pyotr Kolbin held Putin’s stake in the major oil trader Gunvor, the rest of which belonged to another Putin associate — Timchenko. Rotenberg now owns the palace in Gelendzhik. And so it goes on without end.
We are sure that in the case of Scheherazade, too, it will turn out that the offshore company hidden on some distant islands is registered to yet another one of Putin’s cronies. But what really matters is that the true owner of Scheherazade is guarded by the FSO. A state agency, a security service, Russian civil servants and military personnel are somehow flying to Italy and working on this yacht.
This hypocrisy sums up Putin perfectly. He has become so detached from reality that he not only buys a third yacht costing more than the annual budget of Kaluga Region, but also sends servicemen from the Federal Protective Service to staff this insane vessel.
We demand the immediate seizure and confiscation of the yacht Scheherazade. We demand the release of documents showing who paid, when, and how, for the construction, outfitting, and maintenance of this vessel. Because it was paid for with our money. Money stolen from Russian pensioners. Money stolen from teachers and doctors. Money stolen from soldiers who are deceitfully sent to die and kill in a war in Ukraine that serves no one but Putin. Sent with field rations that expired seven years ago.
Scheherazade is literally made out of Russian hospitals that were never built, schools that are crumbling, and parents who do not live to reach retirement age. Instead of fulfilling promises to explore deep space, develop Russian industry, and build a strong innovative economy, Putin built himself Scheherazade.
Freedom for Alexei Navalny.