These Are The Spots The Russian Billionaires Are Fleeing To!

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)n Wednesday, following the imposition of severe Western sanctions on Moscow in reprisal for its attack on Ukraine, five superyachts owned by Russian billionaires were seen in the Indian Ocean island Maldives.

For the record, Maldives is an Indian Ocean island nation that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.

Reuters previously reported that France and Germany have seized two superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov, according to French authorities and Forbes magazine, taking concrete steps to hit Russia’s super-rich under sweeping sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian billionaires face heavy sanctions from European Union on Monday, one of which is Usmanov. German authorities seized Usmanov’s 12-foot yacht Dilbar, valued at $600 million as confirmed by a Forbes report based on three sources.

On Wednesday, data shows from shipping database MarineTraffic that the Clio superyacht, owned by Oleg Deripaska, the founder of aluminum giant Rusal, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2018, was anchored off the capital Male.

The Titan, owned by Alexander Abramov, a co-founder of steel producer Evraz, arrived on Feb. 28.

More of this report from Reuters:

Three further yachts owned by Russian billionaires were seen cruising in Maldives waters on Wednesday, the data showed. They include the 88-meter (288 ft) Nirvana owned by Russia’s richest man, Vladimir Potanin. Most vessels were last seen anchored in Middle Eastern ports earlier in the year.

A spokesperson for Maldives’ government did not respond to a request for comment.

The United States has said it will take strict action to seize the property of sanctioned Russians.

“This coming week, we will launch a multilateral Transatlantic task force to identify, hunt down, and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs – their yachts, their mansions, and any other ill-gotten gains that we can find and freeze under the law,” the White House said in a tweet on Sunday.

Washington imposed sanctions on Deripaska and other influential Russians in 2018 because of their ties to President Vladimir Putin after alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, which Moscow denies.

German authorities did not immediately respond to Reuters’ inquiries. Forbes said representatives for Usmanov did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sources: Oann, Reuters