The £73.2 million yacht, called 'Graceful', was seen sailing through the Kiel Canal a few hours after leaving the Port of Hamburg before heading out to the Baltic Sea
* Putin's superyacht, called 'Graceful', set sail from the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg on Monday
* It appears to have arrived in the Russian enclave Kaliningrad by midday today
* German media accused the vessel of 'fleeing' Germany after NATO threatened Russia with tough sanctions if they invaded Ukraine
Vladimir Putin's superyacht has been spotted sailing towards Russia after 'fleeing' from a shipyard in Germany, sparking speculation that it was trying to avoid being impounded by tough sanctions that would be imposed if Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The Russian President's yacht set sail from the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg on Monday and had arrived in the Russian enclave Kaliningrad by midday on Wednesday, according to the ship tracking website Marine Traffic.
The £73.2 million yacht, called 'Graceful', was seen sailing through the Kiel Canal a few hours after leaving the Port of Hamburg before heading out to the Baltic Sea.
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Update: Putin's superyacht abruptly left Germany amid sanction warnings should Russia invade Ukraine: report (Business Insider).
WNU Editor: This is not a good sign. You never quickly leave a shipyard when your boat needs repair.
Another troubling sign for me is what Russian business media is now focused on. They are filled with stories on Russian businesses needing to make sure that they do not keep their assets abroad, that they import what they need now, the consequences if Russia is cut off from SWIFT, the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy, and to be ready for hard times.
Regular readers of this blog know that I believe a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a disaster. If you break it you own it, and Ukraine is already a broken country. A Russian occupation of the country will be costly, and it will break relations with the West that will probably last a decade or two. This will also generate an arms race and buildup of the likes that we have not seen since the 1980s.
Needless to say the economic consequences will also be severe. To both the West and Russia.
It is because an invasion would be such a disaster that I have always voiced the opinion that there will not be war. That our better angels will win the discussion.
But I am now getting a very uneasy feeling on where this is all heading.
I still believe a war will not happen. But I am now seeing certain disturbing events in motion, and I am starting to wonder if anyone wants to stop it.
3 comments:
Believing that one will soon be sanctioned doesn't go hand in hand with an invasion of Ukraine. The entire point of the 2016 global magnitsky act was to lower the bar for proof of wrongdoing to apply human rights sanctions and avoid the lengthy court proceedings.
No way should that monstrosity be allowed to harbor anywhere, nor should it be allowed to transit the Bosphorus.
^ More than that. If it should enter the Mediterranean, it should be harassed in every possible sense all the way from Gibraltar to the Bosphorus.
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