August 29, 2023

Of War and Yachts


Of War and Yachts
Graceful in the port of Sochi, 2015 Alexxx1979, Wikimedia Commons

A year and a half into the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian government allocated roughly $32 million for the care and refurbishment of the yacht Graceful, linked to President Vladimir Putin. So argue findings by associates of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The investigative team said that a considerable portion, specifically R240 million (about $2.5 million), was spent solely on wooden products for the yacht. There waa also the acquisition of an R8 million ($84,000) coffee table, a carpet spanning over 100 square meters for the bedroom of the "owner" (procured for R5 million [$52,000]), and other furniture.

"Right now, during the war, three billion rubles were spent on Putin’s toy," said an investigator in the video outlining the report. This sum includes funds for restoration, maintenance, crew salaries, overhead costs, communications, dry dock storage costs, and fuel. The investigators predict that siginificant expenditures will be ongoing. Currently, the yacht is en route to the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.

The 82-meter Graceful was built by the German shipbuilding company Blohm and Voss. The officially registered owner, as reported by the BBC, is the Argument company, co-founded by Alexander Kolpakov, head of the presidential affairs department, and Oleg Kuznetsov, head of Military Unit 1473 of the FSO (the Russian agency concerned with tasks related to the protection of several high-ranking state officials).

Notably, the vessel’s itinerary has often coincided with the Russian president’s schedule. It frequently makes appearances around Sochi, home to Putin’s Bocharov Ruchey residence and a rumored palace on Idokopas. Further, photographs of the yacht show a government telephone, identical to those present in all of Putin’s official offices, and the yacht gym is furnished with the same equipment found in Putin’s armored train.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Graceful was subjected to sanctions, mirroring the predicament of the 140-meter yacht Scheherazade, also associated with Vladimir Putin. The latter was apprehended in Italy in May 2022, while Graceful successfully navigated to Kaliningrad only weeks before February 24, 2022.

Associates of Alexei Navalny noted that the sanctions failed to impede the substantial yacht overhaul. In particular, an intricate infrastructure was established, involving assistants from Europe, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, to facilitate equipment procurement and refurbishment. Notably, the Estonian company Breeze Marine is referenced, among others, in the investigation. Crew uniforms were sourced from Italy, with expenses covered by a Dubai-based company, and the merchandise was routed through Lithuania before reaching Kaliningrad.

You Might Also Like

Leave or Die
  • August 15, 2023

Leave or Die

In which we visit a "typical" Siberian town and dig into the issues and people who live there.
No Money, Only War
  • March 29, 2023

No Money, Only War

Russian authorities blame the "special military operation" for the disruption of infrastructural and social projects.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
November 01, 2012

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955