This FT story is chock full o’ fun. It is not directly related to #YachtWatch, but my weird obsession w/ oligarch yachts grew out of my research into Russian influence operations. 1/ ft.com/content/bd74a5…
It also provides a nice primer for my upcoming book (which is much funnier to read than anything the FT could write). Let’s dig in. 2/
The FT opens with a story that is sure to become a classic: A Russian intelligence officer caught on camera handling his source in Slovakia. 3/
You can see the video of the handler/asset meeting here. For anyone not familiar w/intelligence operations, it is generally not a good idea to be caught on camera handling your source. That should go without saying, but well, here we are. 4/
As @KeirGiles notes, there has been a reluctance to go after Russian intel in Europe and the US. I wonder why?* 5/
*I don’t, in fact, wonder why. See this thread for how Russia has gained influence across the US, UK, and Europe. 6/
This also should go without saying, but being called an "aircraft carrier" of covert Russian activity is not a compliment. Austria has a wee bit of work to do to dig itself out of a hole. 7/
For no reason*, here’s a pic of Austria’s (then) foreign minister dancing with Putin at her wedding.
*see previous tweet for the reason 8/
The FT goes on to outline some of the more recent cases. These are bad, but they are also kind of traditional bread and butter recruitments (although we can see the price for betraying your country is kind of cheap… $3000-$5000 for each handover of docs). 9/
Anyway, Russia has been up to all kinds of fuckery for a long time. The more traditional ops have involved their intel officers. Many of their active measures ops have involved the oligarchs. And that is, in part, how I arrived at researching oligarchs and their yachts. -fin-
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Good morning. A quick #YachtWatch summary after the events of yesterday. We are now at 9 yachts detained (I think I counted right this time), with Italy and Spain in the lead with 3 each. Here's the list:
ITALY:
LENA (Timchenko)
LADY M (Mordashov)
SAILING YACHT A (Melnichenko) 1/
Spain:
VALERIE (Chemezov)
CRESCENT (maybe SECHIN? still unclear)
LADY ANASTASIA (Mikheev)
France:
AMORE VERO (Sechin)
Germany:
DILBAR (Usmanov)
Croatia:
ROYAL ROMANCE (Medvedchuk) 2/
At the top of the oligarch leaderboard is IGOR SECHIN, who has had two yachts detained (if it is confirmed CRESCENT is his). Congratulations, Igor!
Let's check in with some of our favorite yachts that are on the move... 3/
SOLARIS recently left Montenegro (where it had gone likely to refuel). Not sure where she is heading now. Montenegro had announced it would follow EU sanctions, so Solaris kinda had to go. 2/
Abramovich’s other yacht [insert eye roll emoji] Eclipse is in the Mediterranean, just north of Algeria. Is it me or does she look to be hugging the North Africa coast more than the Spanish coast? Anyway… 3/
SOLARIS is still in Barcelona. I went down to the port today. No movement. Just a giant fucking boat at the dock in the shipyard. It's hard to capture the size, but this thing is massive. 1/
Reminder: SOLARIS is 140m (461 ft.) long. So, longer than a football field. But who's measuring? (the oligarchs are definitely measuring). 2/
Hey, #YachtWatch fans! I've got a "how it started, how it's going" for you.
Remember Galactica Super Nova (still a stupid fucking name), believed to be owned by Russian oligarch Vagit Alekperov, president of Lukoil?
Welp... She's gone. 1/
Looks like she left Barcelona yesterday. She is believed to be heading to Montenegro. Notably, Montenegro is not a member of the EU. Montenegro is also on the way to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. Just saying. 2/
Montenegro recently built a new port to attract mega yachts.
Montenegro might want to keep in mind, however, that its accession to the EU is currently scheduled for 2025. Just saying. 3/