An activist tried to attack Roman Abramovich's £430million superyacht Solaris before it was moved to a safe haven.
A determined Lithuanian protester reportedly tried to take control of a boat he'd hired to steer it towards the Russian oligarch's 460ft luxury vessel and damage it. Police have confirmed the incident took place in Barcelona Port and identified those involved but made no arrests as charges weren't pressed.
The man at the centre of the drama - which occurred on March 3 but has only just been made public - remains anonymous. His attempt to damage Solaris - which left Barcelona in a hurry last Tuesday, two days before the Chelsea owner was sanctioned by the UK government - is said to have occurred after he hired a smaller vessel.
Catalan outlet Cronica Global said the activist turned up alone and got onboard with a sailor and the captain. He is alleged to have demanded the skipper to turn the vessel towards Abramovich's superyacht as they neared the mouth of the port before getting into a struggle with the other two men on board. The activist was ultimately overpowered.
Port police and Civil Guard officers stationed in the area were called to deal with the situation. The activist told police he was against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's believed he planned to spray graffiti on Abramovich's superyacht, although it's not clear how much damage he was planning to cause.
Abramovich’s superyacht - which left before repairs being undertaken on it were finished - suffered no damage. It was last seen heading for Turkey after stopping off in Montenegro. Abramovich is now believed to be back in Russia after being pictured at a VIP lounge in Israel’s Tel Aviv Airport and his private jet landed in Moscow.
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His yacht managed to flee Spain less than a week before Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced the seizure of an oligarch-owned superyacht on TV on Monday night. Former KGB officer Sergey Chemezov's £117m superyacht Valerie has been "temporarily immobilised" at Barcelona Port and Sanchez vowed it would not be the last.
Valerie is registered to Chemezov's stepdaughter Anastasia Ignatova, according to a 2021 article published in the Pandora Papers information leak. It was reportedly used by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez last summer for a romantic getaway.
A Russian-owned superyacht - which a Ukrainian crew member tried to sink in Majorca - has also been retained. Lady Anastasia - a £5m vessel - was at the centre of a drama last month when Taras Ostapchuk, a Ukrainian engineer on the vessel, tried to sink it.
The 55-year-old was arrested and later travelled to his homeland to sign up for military duty after being released by a court on bail in the Majorcan capital Palma.
He identified the owner of the vessel as Alexander Mijeev following the incident, and claims he acted after seeing a helicopter carrying weapons - he believes were made by the oligarch's firm - attacking an apartment block in Kyiv, similar to one where his family live.
The unrepentant sailor - speaking after being released by a judge pending an ongoing probe - owed to join the fight against Vladimir Putin ’s soldiers as he took a plane from Majorca to Poland before travelling overland to Ukraine. He said: "I don’t regret for a minute what I did, only that I didn’t achieve my objective which was to sink the yacht."
Fellow crew members - also believed to be Ukrainian - saved the vessel from serious damage along with staff at Port Adriano marina in the south-west of the island.
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