Russian crew aboard a superyacht possibly linked to Putin have left their jobs, workers say.

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/world/europe/russia-superyacht-crew-putin.html

Russian crew aboard a superyacht possibly linked to Putin have left their jobs, workers say.
March 24, 2022, 8:56 a.m. ET
Gaia Pianigiani

Russian crew members on a mysterious $700-million luxury yacht that U.S. officials say could be owned by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia abruptly left their jobs and the Tuscan coastal town where it is undergoing repairs a couple of weeks ago amid scrutiny of the vessel, local union leaders and workers say.

The crew members had been fixtures in the small port of Marina di Carrara since the fall of 2020, when the 459-foot-long yacht, Scheherazade, arrived at a dry dock less than four months after being built. No owner has been publicly identified.

Workers at the shipyard and regular visitors to its private lounge confirmed that the Russians had routinely supervised the work done on the yacht and had drinks at the bar or played pool there in the evenings. The yacht, estimated by the website SuperYachtFan to cost about $700 million, has two helicopter decks, a swimming pool with a retractable cover that converts to a dance floor and a gym.

This week, the research team of Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, published a video in which it argued, based on a 2020 crew manifest, that a dozen of the Russian crew members of the Scheherazade either worked for or had a connection with Russia’s Federal Protective Service. The team drew the conclusion that the yacht must belong to Mr. Putin or some of his closest aides.

[CanonRay]

1. This seems relatively simple

Who's paying for the work being done?

[lagomorph777]

3. A long string of shell companies and false fronts.

That's what has made it so difficult to trace.

But the crew's backgrounds appear to be a solid clue.

[Carlitos Brigante]

2. Somebody messed up at the Times. Because the photos I see are of a

cruise ship..........