© picture alliance / dpa | Marcus Brandt
The 82-meter-long superyacht Graceful, linked by international media to Vladimir Putin, had not been seen for several years but has now suddenly appeared off the Danish coast.
Notably, the decks are shielded with nets against Ukrainian drones, and the ship is sailing in a heavily guarded convoy with Russian naval vessels, presumably headed for Istanbul. The convoy is being closely monitored by Danish and German forces, while the ship’s AIS tracker remains turned off.
According to the Danish television station DR, the ship crossed the Great Belt on the night of June 29, then passed the island of Anholt and set course for Grenen, the northernmost tip of Jutland.
The fact that it has suddenly reappeared is striking because the yacht has been virtually invisible since 2022 and is on U.S. sanctions lists. According to a military analyst, the additional security measures indicate that a real threat is being perceived, possibly due to recent Ukrainian attacks on ships in the Baltic Sea.
The yacht, valued at about $100 million, was in Hamburg for repairs prior to Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. It left the German port on February 7, 2022, just 17 days before Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Picture: © picture alliance / dpa | Marcus Brandt