The “Graceful” in Hamburg 2022.Image: www.imago-images.de
Russia’s autocrat apparently loves luxury. Several superyachts are also attributed to him. One of them appeared again after a long time.
June 30, 2026, 04:47June 30, 2026, 04:47
Christoph Cöln / t-online
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has long been associated with excessive luxury. Ever since Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny exposed the warlord’s magnificent private residences in the Kremlin with numerous revelation videos, not only the whole of Russia but also the rest of the world knows that Putin loves luxury.
One of the expensive toys that the 72-year-old apparently treats himself to is a superyacht. However, it has not been seen since the start of the Ukrainian war. More precisely, since August 30, 2022. At that time, the transponder that shows the ship’s location was apparently switched off.
Now the “Graceful” has reappeared for the first time in around four years, as the Danish broadcaster DR reports. A research team from the broadcaster was able to locate the ship in the Kattegat, in the Baltic Sea. The “Graceful” is said to have cruised there on Sunday between the Danish island of Jutland and the Swedish west coast. She was apparently accompanied by a Russian destroyer and a Russian patrol boat, as reported by the DR’s Verifier team, citing the Danish Coast Guard.
International sanctions against Putin’s alleged yachts
The ship is currently in the Skagerrak, i.e. still in the Baltic Sea, as can be read on the website marinetraffic.com. Accordingly, the destination of the “Graceful” is probably the port of Istanbul, Turkey. This has not been confirmed. The ship is 82 meters long and 20 meters wide. According to the business magazine Forbes, the yacht is said to be worth more than 100 million euros.
As “Business Insider” reported, the yacht is said to have been brought from Germany into Russian waters shortly before the Russian army invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Accordingly, the ship was taken from the German shipyard Blohm+Voss in Hamburg in a cloak-and-dagger operation in order to save it from possible confiscation. Although the ship had not yet completed the repair work planned in the shipyard, the crew apparently rushed to bring the “Graceful” into Russian territory – the yacht is affected by international sanctions.
The “Graceful” is not the only luxury yacht attributed to Putin. The “Scheherazade” and the “Olympia & Nega” are also said to be used by the Russian autocrat. However, direct ownership of the Kremlin ruler could never be proven, as the expensive watercraft are said to be owned by front companies and front people.