Italy seizes superyacht reportedly linked to Putin – POLITICO

A $700 million yacht with alleged ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin has been seized as part of ongoing European Union sanctions against Russia, according to a Explanation by the Italian Ministry of Economy.

The boat — the Scheherazade, which is based in the Italian town of Marina di Carrara north of Pisa — has “significant economic and business ties” with “prominent elements of the Russian government,” the ministry said, without specifically naming Putin in its statement. The boat is registered in the Cayman Islands.

Italian police boarded the superyacht – complete with two helipads, a swimming pool and a pool table designed to tip with the swaying of the ocean – in March as part of ongoing EU sanctions against Russia following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Local Italian media had linked the boat to Eduard Khudainatov, the former president of Rosneft, the Russian state-owned energy giant.

Brussels is expected to announce a new round of sanctions against Moscow later today, including sweeping bans on the country’s oil imports to the bloc of 27.