The yacht Graceful, which U.S. authorities have linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been relocated from the Baltic Sea to the port of Severomorsk — the main base of Russia’s Northern Fleet. This was reported by the Danish broadcaster DR, which analyzed satellite images and MarineTraffic navigation data.
According to the report, in June 2026 the vessel activated its Automatic Identification System (AIS) for the first time since August 2022. Istanbul was listed as the destination, but instead of arriving there, after sailing through the Baltic and North Seas, the yacht reached a closed military port in Russia’s Murmansk region, writes The Moscow Times.
While passing through Danish waters, the yacht was accompanied by a Russian destroyer and the Project Voevoda vessel. The convoy was also monitored by the German coast guard and the Danish Navy. After sailing along the Norwegian coast, Graceful and Voevoda switched off their transponders. On July 4, Voevoda briefly transmitted its coordinates again, approximately 70 kilometers from Severomorsk. In a satellite image taken on July 5, DR identified two vessels at the military base pier that are highly likely to be Graceful and Voevoda.
Flemming Splidsboel Hansen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, believes the yacht was relocated from the Baltic region due to the increased threat posed by Ukrainian long-range drones.
"We have seen drone strikes deep inside Russian territory, as well as on the Baltic Sea coast," he noted.
Graceful, which is more than 80 meters long, is also known as Kosatka. Its estimated value is around $100 million. The vessel is under U.S. sanctions. Before the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the yacht underwent repairs at a German shipyard in Hamburg and left the facility on February 7, 2022 — 17 days before the full-scale invasion began. After that, Graceful rarely left the Baltic Sea.
Last week, the 71-meter yacht Victoria, which the Dossier Center has also linked to Putin, also left Russia. According to MarineTraffic data, the vessel departed from Russia’s Krasnodar region, passed through the Bosphorus, and headed toward the Turkish resort city of Bodrum. Victoria and Graceful were built at the Sevmash shipyard. Victoria is estimated to be worth $50 million.
Investigators have linked nine yachts to Putin. They include Graceful, Victoria, as well as the 54-meter Chaika, the 46-meter Shellest, the 37-meter Aldoga, the 32-meter Nega, the 57-meter Olympia, the 38-meter Orion, and the 140-meter Scheherazade.
