Italian officials seize $156M in yachts, villas from Russian oligarchs

Over $150 million dollars worth of villas and yachts from Russian oligarchs have been seized by Italian officials in an effort to target those with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday that the officials would start seizing Russian oligarch’s properties, The Associated Press reported.

“We must be able to stop Putin’s attack, bringing him to the table, and he won’t go with niceties,” the Italian foreign minister said to Italian state media, according to the news wire.

The oligarchs targeted included billionaires Alisher Usmanov, Gennady Timchenko Alexei Mordashov. 

Italian news outlet LaPresse reported that Usmanov’s villa in Sardinia had been seized, according to the AP. The “Lady M” yacht had been taken from Mordashov while officials took Timchenko’s superyacht “Lena.”

The development comes as the international community has sought to isolate Russia economically by sanctioning Putin and other Russian officials, closing stores in Russia and halting business with the country.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers also have signaled support for a ban on oil and energy imports from Russia, acknowledging that the action could increase prices at the pump. 

“We are going to see price increases,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said on Wednesday. “Nobody wants to see that. And this is going to hurt. But we all need to recognize Europe is in the midst of a war with Russia now. Innocent people are dying, children are dying. We have not been in as volatile as a situation as anytime in my life. And so we are looking right now from a very short window.”