oligarch yachts for sale

Photos show the luxury mega yachts that belong to Russian oligarchs — some of whom have hidden their ships as the UK ramps up sanctions.

• Sanctions targeting Russian oligarchs threaten their luxury assets — including their mega yachts.
• Many countries have implemented sanctions targeting Putin and Russian oligarchs following Russia's attack on Ukraine.
• Insider compiled a photo list of some of the luxury vessels.

Russian billionaires' assets — including their megayachts — are in danger of being seized as countries continue to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden announced that the US will make a substantial effort to seize Russian oligarchs' assets.

"We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets," Biden said in his State of The Union address on March 1. "We are coming for your ill-begotten gains."

Since the US is not in "armed conflict" with Russia it may be legally tricky to seize assets like yachts, Insider reported . 

"The threshold for seizing assets under sanctions is that the US has to be in armed conflict with the owner of the assets," Brian O'Toole, an economic sanctions expert, tweeted last Friday. "The idea of turning Russian corruption into Ukrainian assistance is lovely but this idea is illegal, period."

It can also be difficult to find out who the owners of these yachts are.

Offshore companies typically own the luxury vessels, but enough "public speculation" pointing to a Russian oligarch as an owner is likely "sufficient for a seizure," Insider reported . 

Many of the oligarchs moved their yachts to places where they can't be seized, such as the Maldives, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

Insider has compiled a list of photos with mega yachts linked to Russian oligarchs.

Galactica Super Nova

Amid sanctions and seizures targeting Russian billionaires, Galactica Super Nova — said to be linked to the CEO of Russian oil firm Lukoil — is no longer detectable via ship tracker site MarineTraffic , The Daily Beast reported Thursday. 

The superyacht — whose owner is named Vagit Alekperov — had just been in Montenegro last week, Insider reported .

Alekperov is not currently the target of any sanctions. 

The yacht is almost 230 feet long and can hold up to 12 guests and 16 crew members, according to the ship maker Heesen Yachts .

The ship also has a helicopter pad that can turn into an outdoor movie theatre, also according to the ship maker.

The Amore Vero

France seized Amore Vero, a 281-foot megayacht linked to oligarch and politician Igor Sechin, on March 3.

The yacht, Amore Vero, is estimated to have a value of $120 million . It has a swimming pool that doubles as a helicopter pad and a private deck for its owner, according to Oceana , the ship maker.

Per The Wall Street Journal , officials believe that Amore Vero is "owned by a company whose majority shareholder was Mr. Sechin," though the outlet does not provide the name of the company.

Sechin is the CEO of Rosneft, Russia's oil giant, and a former deputy prime minister. A known Putin ally , he was sanctioned by both the EU and the US before France seized his yacht last week .

Sechin was one of seven oligarchs sanctioned by the UK on Thursday. 

People in Russia have referred to Sechin as "Darth Vader" and "the scariest man on Earth," according to The Guardian .

Alisher Usmanov has been sanctioned by the EU, the US, the UK, and Switzerland. His boat remains in Germany, but the country says it hasn't seized it.

Usmanov's Dilbar is "is the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage," according to Lürssen , the German ship's maker.

It's 512-foot long and weighs 15,917 tons. The ship has been docked in Germany for months undergoing a "refitting," but last week Forbes reported that it was unable to leave the dock.

Germany, however, has denied that it formally seized Dilbar.

Forbes said that "the German federal customs agency is the 'responsible enforcement authority' and would have to issue an export waiver for the yacht to leave, and that 'no yacht leaves port that is not allowed to do so.'" 

Still, multiple outlets reported that Usmanov has fired the crew on the Dilbar.

The Uzbekistan-born oligarch is a supporter of Putin. 

"I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin's problem," Usmanov told Forbes  in a 2010 interview. 

Suleyman Kerimov was sanctioned by the US, and his son, Said Kerimov, owns ICE. The superyacht is worth is an estimated $170 million.

The Kerimov family owns the majority of Polyus Gold, Russia's biggest gold producer .

ICE was dubbed "Superyacht of the Year" in 2006 at the World Super Yacht Awards, according to Boat International . It is approximately 300 feet and has its own resident helicopter, according to Club Yacht .

Quantum Blue

Sergey Galitsky's ship, Quantum Blue, has an estimated value of $250 million and is last known to be docked in Monaco.

Galitsky is the founder of one of Russia's largest supermarket chains, Magnit.

His name is not currently on the list of sanctioned Russian oligarchs,

Though he also is not the target of any current sanctions, Vladimir Potanin's superyacht, Nirvana, is one of at least four ships docked in the Maldives .

Potanin is the Former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and was a longtime trustee for the Guggenheim museum before stepping down on March 2, according to The New York Times . 

Nirvana is not Potanin's only superyacht, he also owns another named Barbara, according to Fortune .

Alexander Abramov's Titan, Alexei Mordashovis' Nord, and Oleg Deripaska's Clio are also located in the Maldives.

At 533 feet long, Roman Abramovich's Eclipse was the largest yacht on the globe until 2013 when the 590-foot Azzam overthrew it. 

Abramovich, once Russia's richest man , is the departing owner of Chelsea FC soccer club. He was sanctioned by the UK on Thursday along with six other oligarchs, Insider reported .

The luxury boat has a host of amenities, including two helicopter pads, a missile detection system, and a swimming pool more than 50 feet long. It also has space for up to 36 guests and 70 crew members, according to Yacht Harbour .

Insider previously reported that it is currently docked in the Caribbean .

Another yacht named Solaris is linked to Abramovich. The vessel, worth approximately $600 million, left Spain Tuesday after having been under repair since late 2021, Insider reported.

Solaris is 460 feet and can host a total of 36 guests, according to SuperYachtFan .

Tango, owned by the US-sanctioned Viktor Vekselberg, is currently located in Palma, Spain.

Tango can host up to 14 people and is 254 feet long, won the 2012 World Superyacht Awards, and has an estimated worth of $120 million, according to SuperYachtFan .

Vekselberg is a Ukrainian-born businessman who owns Renova, a Russian conglomerate, according to The Guardian .

He was one of nearly two dozen Russian oligarchs and officials that the US sanctioned on Friday.

The US Treasury Department claims that he has close ties with Putin, and has announced that assets such as his $90 million jet and his superyacht Tango have been frozen, Insider reported .

Graceful, a yacht reported to belong to Russian President Vladimir Putin, left Germany just before his invasion of Ukraine, Insider reported in early February.

—Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) February 9, 2022

Graceful is 270 feet long and has a saloon, gym, spa, library, and an indoor pool nearly 50 feet long that doubles as a dance floor.

Scheherazade

A mystery yacht remains untouched as the owner remains a mystery.

The owner of the 459-foot Scheherazade is suspected to be a Russian billionaire, though the owner was never publically identified, The New York Times reported .

Many people believe it belongs to Vladimir Putin, nicknaming the vessel "Putin's Yacht."

SuperYachtFan estimates the ship's value sits at $700 million.

Stella Maris

Stella Maris is linked to oil and gas tycoon Rashid Sardarov. It was last seen in Nice, France, according to The Washington Post .

The luxury vessel is priced at $75 million, is 237 feet long, and can hold up to 14 guests, per SuperYachtFan .

Sardarov is not being sanctioned. 

Sailing Yacht A

Sailing Yacht A is believed to belong to Andrey Melnichenko. The boat was seized by Spanish officials Saturday, Reuters reported .

The ship is more than 465 feet long and can hold up to 20 guests, according to SuperYachtFan . The website says that Sailing Yacht A also features an underwater observation area and has a value of more than $500 million.

Melnichenko is an EU-sanctioned Russian billionaire who works in coal and fertilizers, according to Forbes . The magazine also reported that he owns a second yacht, Motor Yacht A, which is similar to a submarine. 

Oligarch Gennady Timchenko's superyacht "Lena" was seized in the port of Sanremo, Italy on March 5, Reuters reported.

Timchenko is the owner of a private investment group, Volga Group and a shareholder of Bank Rossiya. The oligarch has been sanctioned by the EU, which describes him as a "long-time acquaintance of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin."

Timchenko was also sanctioned by the UK on February 22. 

The superyacht is valued at around 50 million euros ($54 million), Reuters reported. It has fold-down terraces, as well as an "owner's suite" which opens out onto the sea with "gull-wing doors," according to its manufacturer, Sanlorenzo.

Italian authorities also seized a $71 million super-yacht belonging to one of the wealthiest men in Russia , Alexei Mordashov. 

The 215-ft "Lady M" superyacht was seized in the Port of Imperia, northern Italy, a source confirmed to Reuters.

The yacht can accommodate up to six guests on and also has accommodation for four crew members, per the Superyacht Times .

The oligarch, who is the chairman of steel mining company, Severstal, has also been sanctioned by the EU, which says Mordashov is "benefiting from his links with Russian decision-makers." Mordashov has insisted he has "absolutely nothing to do" with Russia's attack on Ukraine. 

The Oligarch moved $1.3 billion worth of shares in travel company, TUI, to an offshore tax haven on the day he was hit by sanctions, Insider's Huileng Tan previously reported. 

He was also added to the UK government's sanctions list on March 15.

Some superyachts belonging to Russian billionaires are currently seeking refuge in the Maldives, including a yacht owned by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, Reuters reported.

The billionaire, who is also the founder of one of Russia's largest industrial groups, Basic Element, was added to the UK's sanctions list on March 10.

Also built by Lürssen, the superyacht - which is around 238 feet long - can accommodate 18 guests in nine cabins, per Superyacht Fan.

The superyacht Valerie - worth $140 million - was seized in Barcelona on Monday, Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said on La Sexta television, per Reuters.  

Sanchez did not confirm the owner of the yacht, but two sources confirmed to Reuters that it belonged to Sergei Chemezov, who is said to be a close ally of Putin.

The oligarch, who was previously a KGB spy with Putin in the former Soviet Union, recently said that Russia would emerge victorious from Western sanctions, Reuters previously reported . 

Chemezov, who is the CEO of Russian defense conglomerate Rostec was added to the US sanctions list on March 3. 

His yacht is 279 feet long and can accommodate 17 guests in eight suites, per Superyacht Fan.

Crescent, most likely owned by Igor Sechin but also rumored to belong to Putin, was the third yacht Spain seized as the West ramps up sanctions, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The superyacht is 443-feet long and costs an estimated $600 million, according to  SuperyachtFan, which also says the vessel hosts a retractable helicopter hangar and a large pool with a glass bottom.

Lady Anastasia

Lady Anastasia is owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Mikheyev but was seized by Spain on Tuesday, according to Reuters . 

The boat is almost 160 feet long and can hold up to 10 guests, according to Yacht Harbour .

Mikheyev, who was sanctioned by the EU, is the head of a helicopters division under Rostec, New York Mag reported .

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16 superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs

Western sanctions over moscow's invasion of ukraine led to many luxury vessels being detained in europe.

Two superyachts linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted on the Turkish coast on Tuesday, 'Eclipse' and 'My Solaris'. Mr Abramovich is among several wealthy Russians added to an EU blacklist as governments act to seize their yachts and other luxury assets. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Several luxury yachts owned by wealthy Russians have been detained across Europe this month.

It comes after the West imposed sanctions on oligarchs over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine .

Some have taken evasive action – two such superyachts linked to billionaire Roman Abramovich were spotted approaching the Turkish coast on Tuesday. A group of Ukrainians tried to stop one of the yachts from docking in Turkey.

Chelsea FC owner Mr Abramovich is one of several oligarchs who were added to an EU blacklist last week as governments acted to seize yachts and other luxury assets owned by the billionaires.

Western sanctions resulted in many large vessels relocating from Europe in the past few weeks. Several have headed to places such as the Maldives, which have no extradition treaty with the US.

Where is the Abramovich-owned yacht heading?

Mr Abramovich's yacht Eclipse was seen heading towards Marmaris on Tuesday, according to data compiled by monitoring site Marine Traffic, which was seen by Reuters.

The previous day, his superyacht Solaris was moored in Bodrum, about 80 kilometres from Marmaris, data showed, after skirting waters of EU countries.

There was no suggestion Mr Abramovich was on board either of the yachts.

Ukrainians attempt to stop Abramovich's yacht docking in Turkey

Which yachts have been detained?

On Monday, a superyacht linked to another Russian billionaire was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar.

The Axioma , believed to belong to Dmitrievich Pumpyansky, moored at Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, Reuters TV footage showed.

Mr Pumpyansky, who is under UK and EU sanctions, owns Russia's largest steel pipe maker TMK. Data shows the 72-metre vessel is owned by a British Virgin Islands holding company called Pyrene investments, Reuters reported. An article published as part of the Panama Papers leaks names Mr Pumpyansky as a beneficiary of the holding.

On March 12, the world's biggest sailing yacht, called Sailing Yacht A and owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko , was seized by Italian police.

Several other luxury yachts have also been detained across Europe, including in Gibraltar, Mallorca in Spain's Balearic Islands and the French coast.

Here are 16 superyachts linked to wealthy Russians

1. Eclipse , a superyacht linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich , was this week spotted heading in the direction of Marmaris in Turkey.

2. Solaris , belonging to Mr Abramovich , moored in Bodrum at the start of the week.

3. The Axioma superyacht, belonging to Russian oligarch Dmitrievich Pumpyansky , who is on the EU's list of sanctioned Russians, was detained by authorities after docking in Gibraltar on Monday.

4. The Crescent , which was seized by the Spanish government in Tarragona, Spain, on March 17. The ship's owner is not publicly known, although it is believed to belong to Russian Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft Oil in Moscow.

5. Ragnar , owned by former KGB officer and Russian oligarch Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, who is not on the EU sanctions list.

6. Tango , owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the US on March 11.

7. Lady Anastasia , owned by Russian arms manufacturer Alexander Mijeev, is retained at Port Adriano, Mallorca, as a result of sanctions against Russia and Belarus issued by the European Union.

8. Valerie was seized by the Spanish government in Barcelona, Spain, on March 15. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that the ship is linked to Rostec State Corporation’s chief executive Sergey Chemezov.

9. The $578 million Sailing Yacht A owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko was seized by Italian police in the port of Trieste on March 12.

10. The 156-metre Dilbar superyacht is owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

11. La Datcha belongs to Russian billionaire businessman Oleg Tinkov.

12. Lady M , owned by Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov, was seized by Italian police on March 5.

13. Amore Vero was seized in the Mediterranean resort of La Ciotat on March 3 by French authorities. The yacht is linked to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs the Russian oil giant Rosneft.

14. Quantum Blue , owned by a company linked to Russian billionaire Sergei Galitsky, the head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, was seized in southern France on March 3.

15. Superyacht Luna is owned by Russian billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov.

16. Triple Seven is owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Abramov, according to media reports. The yacht was last up for sale in 2020 for €38 million ($41.85 million).

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The U.S. seized Russian oligarchs' superyachts. Now, American taxpayers pay the price

Ayesha Rascoe

Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Stephanie Baker, senior writer at Bloomberg News, about the complications involved in seizing and maintaining superyachts owned by sanctioned Russian billionaires.

Copyright © 2022 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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$4 Billion Worth of Seized Russian-Owned Superyachts: This Is What That Looks Like

Following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a string of wow-worthy superyachts has been seized from Russian oligarchs allegedly associated with Vladimir Putin.

Take a look at these massive superyachts that have already been seized by local authorities earlier this year. All the vessels on this list are over 200 feet long, with the largest measuring in at over 500 feet! Their values range from $75 million all the way up to $750 million…that’s billions of dollars worth of superyachts, coming right up.

512’ Lürssen | DILBAR

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s colossal 512-foot superyacht looks more like a cruise ship. DILBAR was seized in Germany on March 2, 2022 by the German government. 

The Lürssen yacht was valued somewhere between $600-$750 million–talk about a hefty loss.

469’ Nobiskrug | SAILING YACHT A

The largest “sailboat” in the world, SAILING YACHT A (aptly named) had a similar fate.

It was seized in Italy from owner Andrey Melnichenko. The 469-foot Nobiskrug sailing yacht was valued at $577 million.

459’ Lürssen | SCHEHERAZADE

459-foot SCHEHERAZADE (say that three times fast) was seized in Italy in May. Since one helicopter landing pad isn’t enough, the Lürssen superyacht has two.

Valued at a cool $700 million, she was reportedly owned by former energy exec Eduard Khudainatov.

443’ Lürssen | CRESCENT

Another executive (this time of a Russian oil company), Igor Sechin had his 443-foot Lürssen megayacht seized in March in Spain. The seizure of CRESCENT made for one oily situation.

This massive piece of machinery was valued at $700 million, too.

348’ Lürssen | AMADEA

Fiji is a dream destination, but not so much for Suleiman Kerimov. His 348-foot Lürssen superyacht AMADEA was seized by local authorities in May 2022.

With an estimated $300 million value, that was one pricey visit to the island country.

304’ Feadship | ROYAL ROMANCE

The 304-foot Feadship superyacht linked to Viktor Medvedchuk was recently dethroned. ROYAL ROMANCE lost some of her royalty and a lot of her romance when she was seized in Croatia this past March.

Her highness was valued at $200 million.

282’ Oceano | AMORE VERO

2022 was not Igor Sechin’s year, with not one but two of his yachts on this list. The Russian billionaire’s 282-foot Oceano yacht was also seized earlier this year in France.

AMORE VERO is worth $120 million, adding just a bit to his total losses.

279’ Lürssen | VALERIE

A 279-foot Lürssen yacht was seized in Spain in March 2022. The impressive vessel was linked to Russian executive Sergei Chemezov.

VALERIE was valued at $140 million

255’ Feadship | TANGO

255-foot TANGO met her match when she, too, was seized in Spain in April. The Feadship yacht was tied to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

This dancing queen was valued at $90 million.

236’ Dunya | AXIOMA

Gibraltar was the location of the seizure of AXIOMA, a stunning 236-foot Dunya yacht. The vessel was linked to Russian “businessman” Dmitry Pumpyansky.

Her value was estimated to be $75 million.

The string of spectacular superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs is a long one. Billions of dollars worth of these beauties have been taken since the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

In the market for a superyacht of your own? Explore our featured yachts for sale.

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Amadea, a superyacht, docked at the Port of Everett on Monday, April 29, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

How did a Russian oligarch’s seized superyacht end up in Everett?

Worth more than $300 million, the Amadea could soon be up for sale. But first, it came to Everett on Monday.

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U.S. seizes mega yacht owned by oligarch with close ties to Putin

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain — The U.S. government seized a mega yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president on Monday, the first in the government’s sanctions enforcement initiative to “seize and freeze” giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites .

Spain’s Civil Guard and U.S. federal agents descended on the yacht at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police going in and out of the boat on Monday morning.

The seizure was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. A Spanish Civil Guard spokesman confirmed that officers from the Spanish police body and from the FBI were at the marina searching the vessel Monday morning and said further details would be released later.

A Civil Guard source told The Associated Press that the immobilized yacht is Tango, a 78-meter (254-feet) vessel that carries Cook Islands flag and that  Superyachtfan.com , a specialized website that tracks the world’s largest and most exclusive recreational boats, values at $120 million. The source was also not authorized to be named in media reports and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to U.S. Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the U.S. are frozen and U.S. companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities.

The move is the first time the U.S. government has seized an oligarch’s yacht since Attorney General Merrick Garland and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assembled a task force known as REPO — short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs — as an effort to enforce sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

Vekselberg has long had ties to the U.S. including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era.

Vekselberg was also questioned in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.

Vekselberg and Intrater were thrust into the spotlight in the Mueller probe after the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels released a memo that claimed $500,000 in hush money was routed through Columbus Nova to a shell company set up by Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Columbus Nova denied that Vekselberg played any role in its payments to Cohen.

Vekselberg and Intrater met with Cohen at Trump Tower, one of several meetings between members of Trump’s inner circle and high-level Russians during the 2016 campaign and transition.

The 64-year-old mogul founded Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest stake in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s biggest aluminum producer, among other investments.

Vekselberg was first sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018, and again in March of this year, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began. Vekselberg has also been sanctioned by authorities in the United Kingdom.

The U.S. Justice Department has also launched a sanctions enforcement task force known as KleptoCapture , which also aims to enforce financial restrictions in the U.S. imposed on Russia and its billionaires, working with the FBI, Treasury and other federal agencies. That task force will also target financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to dodge sanctions.

The White House has said that many allied countries, including German, the U.K, France, Italy and others are involved in trying to collect and share information against Russians targeted for sanctions. In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden warned oligarch that the U.S. and European allies would “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.”

“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said.

Wednesday’s capture is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht. Officials there said they had seized a vessel valued at over $140 million owned by the CEO of a state-owned defense conglomerate and a close Putin ally.

French authorities have also seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Italy has also seized several yachts and other assets.

Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht “Lena” belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo; the 65-meter (215-foot) “Lady M” owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, featuring six suites and estimated to be worth 65 million euros; as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials.

Para reported from Madrid and Balsamo reported from Washington.

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Seizing an Oligarch’s Assets Is One Thing. Giving Them to Ukraine Is Another.

It could take years for Russian assets seized by the United States to be permanently confiscated and sold to benefit the Ukrainian people. The Biden administration wants to speed up the process.

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By Matthew Goldstein

The U.S. government was so pleased with its swift seizure of a Russian oligarch’s 255-foot yacht on the Mediterranean island of Majorca last month that it posted a video on YouTube of the moment F.B.I. agents and Spanish authorities clambered up the gangplank. The $90 million yacht owned by Viktor Vekselberg, called the Tango, was the government’s first big prize in a campaign against billionaires with close ties to the Kremlin.

The Tango is just a sliver of the $1 billion in yachts, planes and artwork — not to mention hundreds of millions in cash — that the United States has identified as belonging to wealthy allies of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, since the invasion of Ukraine. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui, who approved the seizure, called the pursuit of the yacht by a new Justice Department team called task force kleptocapture “just the beginning of the reckoning that awaits those who would facilitate Putin’s atrocities.”

The reckoning may take a while.

Seizing assets, whether a yacht or a bank account, is the easy part. To permanently confiscate them, the government must usually navigate a potentially cumbersome process known as civil forfeiture, which requires proving to a judge that the assets were obtained from the proceeds of a crime or through money laundering. Only then does the government actually own the assets, and have the power to liquidate them.

All that can take years, especially if the former owner is inclined to fight the forfeiture action in court.

Hoping to speed things up — and quickly get the proceeds from seized assets turned over to the Ukrainian government — the White House announced a plan last week that would make it easier for U.S. authorities to go after some oligarch assets through an administrative procedure led by the Treasury Department. Although it has not provided details of its plan, administration officials said the new procedure will provide adequate due process and allow for an “expedited” review by a federal court.

The White House proposal would significantly change the way the government handles high-dollar asset seizures. Generally, administrative forfeiture is used in lower-profile cases, intended for assets worth $500,000 or less. Such efforts are not really designed for luxury homes or massive yachts, let alone the huge sums of money that wealthy Russians are believed to have stashed away in U.S. bank accounts or invested with hedge funds and private equity firms.

“The idea of a yacht or jet valued in the hundreds of millions seized and liquidated administratively is new territory,” said Franklin Monsour Jr., a former federal prosecutor and a white collar defense lawyer with Orrick in New York.

Mr. Monsour said the administration and Congress may be banking that many Russian oligarchs will not muster a legal challenge to a new, expedited process because that would risk subjecting themselves to U.S. jurisdiction.

“It will likely be without challenge,” he said. “And the government knows that.”

Even if prosecutors are forced to proceed in some cases through the more typical civil forfeiture process, the litigation might go faster than normal for that same reason, Mr. Monsour said.

There are indications the pace of seizures is picking up. On Thursday, prosecutors said that authorities in Fiji working with the task force seized a $300 million mega yacht belonging to Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian gold magnate. But in a sign the task force may be unwilling in some cases to expose its tradecraft in tracking down assets, the 24-page affidavit presented to a federal judge in support of the seizure was heavily redacted.

The more pricey assets the government seizes, the more reason it has to speed up the forfeiture process: Luxury property must be properly maintained, otherwise their value will drop before they can be sold off to someone else in the small pool of people who can afford them.

“For yachts that are languishing in ports, there will be assets spent to maintain the vehicles,” said Daniel Tannebaum, an expert on financial crimes at the consulting firm Oliver Wyman and former Treasury official. “Some of these assets can sit for an extremely long time.”

But authorities in the U.S. are looking to do more than just strip oligarchs of their prized possessions. Elizabeth Rosenberg, assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at Treasury, said one goal is to “undermine the financial architecture that Russia uses to move money.”

Over the years, Russia and its oligarchs have become skilled at using a parade of shell companies in places like the British Virgin Islands to move money from Cyprus to the Cayman Islands to Jersey, in the Channel Islands, all places with a history of being seen by investors as tax havens. The task force will be looking for evidence of oligarchs taking steps to illegally evade sanctions by surreptitiously transferring money and property to an unsanctioned person or business entity.

Just last month, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed criminal charges against Konstantin Malofeyev for illegally transferring $10 million from a U.S. bank to a business associate in Greece. Mr. Malofeyev, who recently described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war,” was the subject of a sanctions order by the Treasury Department in 2014 after Russia’s invasion of Crimea, a part of Ukraine that it ultimately annexed.

In October, federal agents raided a mansion belonging to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska in Washington and seized a wide array of assets including a Diego Rivera painting. Authorities took action in response to suspicions that Mr. Deripaska had been trying to evade sanctions by moving some of his money around, Bloomberg reported last month.

U.S. authorities have pursued assets belonging to Mr. Deripaska, an industrialist with close ties to Mr. Putin, since a sanction order in 2018 that was partly in response to Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. A year later, Mr. Deripaska sued the U.S. government, claiming that the sanctions designation was based on rumor and had rendered him “radioactive” in the business community. Six weeks ago, a federal appellate court rejected his claims .

Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on more than 530 well-connected Russians. Andrew Adams, the federal prosecutor directing the new kleptocapture task force, said much of his team’s early work has involved “unprecedented” sharing of information about those individuals with U.S. financial firms, Treasury officials and overseas law enforcement groups.

Even without taking possession of an asset, the task force can make it difficult for the owner to make use of it, said Mr. Adams, a veteran federal prosecutor in Manhattan who has focused on money laundering and asset forfeiture cases.

“In the past, I would consider a win to be getting a conviction,” Mr. Adams said. “Now it could be getting an insurance company to cancel policy coverage for an oligarch’s yacht.”

Although it’s possible for the government to seize assets as part of a criminal case, Mr. Adams said, the government was unlikely to take that route. Doing so would require the arrest and conviction of their owners — an even more daunting process than the civil process or the expedited administrative procedure that the White House is considering.

But even the civil forfeiture process requires the government to show evidence of criminal conduct.

In approving the seizure of the Tango, Judge Faruqui said federal authorities had shown probable cause that Mr. Vekselberg had purchased the yacht — held through a series of shell companies — with “illicit proceeds and laundered funds.” Permanent confiscation will require prosecutors to establish that Mr. Vekselberg actually committed bank fraud, money laundering or some other crime.

Although the United States imposed sanctions on wealthy Russians soon after the invasion, global efforts to seize their assets have mostly played out in Europe and the Caribbean.

The European Union has frozen about $30 billion assets traced to Russian oligarchs since February. A few weeks ago, British officials said they had frozen some $13 billion in assets tied to just one of them: Roman Abramovich. Mr. Abramovich, one of Russia’s wealthiest men and the longtime owner of London’s Chelsea Football Club, has faced significant pressure from British officials. He agreed to part with the team in March as officials were moving to impose sanctions, and the club said on Friday that it had accepted a $3 billion bid from a consortium of buyers. The proceeds from the sale — the highest price in history for a sports team — will be placed in a frozen British bank account.

Mr. Abramovich, who has invested billions of dollars with offshore funds managed by U.S. firms and has an interest in several steel mills in the United States, has not been sanctioned by American officials, in part because he has served as an intermediary in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia . Mr. Adams, the leader of the kleptocapture task force, declined to discuss the matter.

But he did offer an explanation for why the Russian oligarchs his team is focused on seem to have fewer assets in the United States than in other countries: The sanctions that Treasury imposed following Russia’s invasion of Crimea seven years ago scared some away.

“We have had sanctions in place since 2014,” said Mr. Adams. “We have not been a friendly country to park your money in.”

Matthew Goldstein covers Wall Street and white collar crime and housing issues. More about Matthew Goldstein

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Who's Paying for Russian Oligarch's Seized Yacht in San Diego Bay?

The amadea, which superyachttimes.com called the 63rd largest yacht in the world, tied up monday at naval base san diego, in national city, by eric s. page and mari payton • published june 28, 2022 • updated on june 28, 2022 at 2:11 pm.

Many San Diegans who saw the news about the Amadea — the $325 million seized Russian oligarch's yacht that docked in San Diego on Monday — may be wondering: Who's paying for that?

Imagine how much the fuel costs to sail it more than 5,000 miles from Fiji, where it was seized earlier this month, to San Diego? A local marine fuel dock quoted the following prices, if you're wondering: $7.40 for gas, $7.35 for diesel. According to SuperYachtTimes.com, the Amadea has a 392,000-liter fuel tank. That works out to about 103,555 gallons, so it could cost $766,307 or so just to fill up.

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And then there are maintence costs on a 350-foot long yacht, which, you can be sure, are extensive and necessary — in fact, not undertaking such efforts can cause the vessel's value to decline if it deteriotes due to neglect.

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The Amadea carries a full complement of 36 crew, including the captain, according to SuperYachtTimes, but it won't need nearly that many once she tied up at Naval Base San Diego in National City. Nevertheless, someone will be monitoring the yacht and conducting the maintenance.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the yacht was bought with what it calls "dirty money," and, as such, some may be relieved to hear, will be sold to the highest bidder. Presumably, the associated post-seizure costs accrued after its seizure will be coming off the top of the sale price. Until then, the Amadea, which SuperYachtTimes called the 63rd larges yacht in the world, will resume in the custody of the U.S.

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Officials with the DOJ said the Amadea, which was seized in connection to the department's KleptoCapture campaign undertaken in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, was owned by Suleiman Kerimov a Russian billionaire.

After the yacht arrived in San Diego, John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor, told NBC 7 that he thinks the U.S. government hopes moves like the Amadea's seizure are efforts to apply pressure to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this month, Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said, regarding the Amadea, “The department had its eyes on every yacht purchased with dirty money. This yacht seizure should tell every corrupt Russian oligarch that they cannot hide — not even in the remotest part of the world. We will use every means of enforcing the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war in Ukraine.”

The court ruling represented a significant victory for the U.S. as it encounters obstacles in its attempts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs around the world. While those efforts are welcomed by many who oppose the war in Ukraine, some actions have tested the limits of American jurisdiction abroad.

The United States wasted no time in taking command of the after a Fiji court ruled in its favor and sailed the ship away from the South Pacific nation just hours after the ruling.

"If you could say or somehow prove that this boat … that the oligarch had the money for this boat because he bribed Vladimir Putin, that is public corruption," Kirby said. "It’s a crime even when it takes place outside the United States. The United States can still act upon it."

According the website, the Amadea is not currently for sale, but that may soon change. Until then, you can "shop" for other eye-popping, wallet-busting boats here .

The Associated Press contributed to this report — Ed.

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Say ‘bon voyage’ to seized Russian superyacht departing Everett

E VERETT — After a two-month stay in Port Gardner Bay, a $300 million superyacht seized from a Russian oligarch has bid adieu to Everett.

The 4,400-ton vessel was a spectacle for passersby near the Port of Everett. At 106 meters, the Amadea is bigger than a football field.

The mysterious vessel sailed into a private dock owned by Everett Ship Repair in late April.

Though the ship is now U.S. government property, it reportedly belonged to Suleyman Kerimov, a Russian oligarch, politician and multi-billionaire.

In 2018, the Department of Justice placed Kerimov, 58, under U.S. sanctions . The government identified him as an oligarch who profits “from the Russian government through corruption and its malign activity around the globe.”

Then in 2022, Fijian authorities captured Kerimov’s prized Amadea and delivered to the United States.

The Department of Justice wrote in 2022 that Kerimov “caused U.S. dollar transactions to be routed through U.S. financial institutions for the support and maintenance of the Amadea,” justifying the seizure.

The government brought the Amadea to San Diego, where it docked for nearly two years before heading to Everett.

Now that its Puget Sound vacation is over, the Amadea is back in San Diego.

On Tuesday morning, it landed near Chula Vista, where it docked before leaving for Everett.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said in May the Amadea came to Everett to undergo “routine, scheduled maintenance.”

But out of all the ports on the West Coast, why Everett?

It’s still not clear.

The department couldn’t comment any further on the Amadea’s ventures or how costly maintenance was.

Lane Richards, the vice president of sales at Everett Ship Repair, declined to comment on the Amadea’s presence in April.

The superyacht is reported to be equipped with luxurious amenities like a wine cellar, walk-in humidor, home cinema, spa center and conference room.

Sound enticing? The Amadea could have been yours.

In February, the government began court proceedings urging a New York judge to allow it to auction off the boat, citing its “excessive” upkeep.

After possessing it for two years, the Amadea has cost taxpayers a fortune: monthly maintenance was $600,000, or more than $7 million per year.

In June, however, the New York judge denied the request to sell the boat, saying the maintenance costs are typical for a vessel of that value.

Jenelle Baumbach: 360-352-8623; [email protected] ; Twitter: @jenelleclar .

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Three Thai missing boats loaded with smuggled diesel found off Malaysian coast

Monday, 17 Jun 2024

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BANGKOK: The three boats that disappeared from a marine police station last week with some 330,000 litres of diesel were found in Malaysian waters on Sunday (June 16) and are being towed back.

Pol Maj-General Jaroonkiart Pankaew (pic), deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said the three boats are expected to reach Songkhla pier on Monday.

Jaroonkiart was speaking to reporters just before boarding a police plane to Songkhla, where he will interrogate the crew of the three boats himself.

The three fishing boats were among five seized by the coast guard in the Gulf of Thailand on March 17 with 28 crew members. Most of the crew are of Thai nationality.

Three of the five boats were found to be loaded with some 330,000 litres of diesel smuggled from a neighbouring country to sell cheaply in Thailand. The other two boats were empty.

The five boats were towed to the Sattahip marine police’s pier in Chonburi. On the evening of June 11, officers guarding the boats allowed them to be moved away from the pier due to strong winds.

The officers believed the heavy winds and big waves would cause the boats to smash into the pier and get damaged.

However, no officers were dispatched to watch the boats and the three loaded with diesel disappeared late that night.

Channel 8 reported earlier that certain members of the coast guard had allegedly siphoned some diesel from the boats to sell and had let go of the boats to conceal their crimes.

On Monday, Pol Maj-General Preutthipong Nutchanart, commander of the marine police division under CIB, said it was found that some of the oil on the three boats was missing. He did not elaborate.

He also said eight of the 16 crew members on the three boats had also disappeared.

Preutthipong added that he believes some members of the Sattahip coast guard definitely had a hand in letting the boats go. He said Jaroonkiart has given him seven days to investigate the case and determine who was involved.

Meanwhile, Pol Colonel Chatchawal Chuchaicharoen, commander of Crime Suppression Sub-division 2, said he had learned from lawyers that only 11 of the 28 crew members arrested on March 17 were still available to face charges after being released on bail. The 11 suspects are scheduled to report for interrogation later on Monday. - The Nation/ANN

Tags / Keywords: Thailand , Malaysia , missing , boats , diesel , smuggle

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch boat-borne bomb attack against Greek-owned ship in Red Sea

An HSC-7 helicopter lands on the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Laboon in the Red Sea, Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The USS aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as ‘IKE’, sails in the Red Sea on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A fighter jet parks on the deck of the USS aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as ‘IKE’, in the Red Sea, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

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A fighter jet takes off from the USS aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, also known as ‘IKE’, in the Red Sea, Tuesday, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

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ABOARD THE USS LABOON IN THE RED SEA (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a boat-borne bomb attack against a commercial ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday, authorities said, the latest escalation despite a U.S.-led campaign trying to protect the vital waterway.

The use of a boat loaded with explosives raised the specter of 2000’s USS Cole attack, a suicide assault by al-Qaida on the warship when it was at port in Aden, killing 17 on board. Associated Press journalists saw the Cole in the Red Sea on Wednesday, now taking part in the U.S. campaign while visiting one of her sister ships, the USS Laboon.

Yemen’s military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack, identifying the vessel targeted as the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Tutor. He described the attack as using a “drone boat,” as well as drones and ballistic missiles.

In a warning to shippers, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center described the vessel as being hit in its stern by a small white craft southwest of the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeida.

The captain “reports the vessel is taking on water, and not under command of the crew,” the UKMTO said. He also “reports the vessel was hit for a second time by an unknown airborne projectile.”

The U.S. military’s Central Command also acknowledged the attack, saying the Tutor “most recently docked in Russia.”

“The impact of the (drone boat) caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room,” it added.

The U.S. military separately destroyed three anti-ship cruise missile launchers in Houthi-held Yemen, as well as one rebel drone over the Red Sea. The Houthis launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Red Sea, but they caused no damage, Central Command said.

The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital nearly a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

They say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war and supporting the Palestinians, though the attacks often target vessels that have nothing to do with the conflict .

The war in Gaza has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians there, while hundreds of others have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. It began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, killed three sailors, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say.

Associated Press journalists on an embark with the U.S. Navy were interviewing Cmdr. Eric Blomberg, the commanding officer of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Laboon, when the alert came in on the attack. Blomberg took multiple calls from sailors on board the vessel, giving updates on the apparent attack.

The Laboon is one of the destroyers accompanying the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and both has shot down Houthi fire and escorted vessels through the region. Though Blomberg and others stressed they were still investigating the attack, he said it appeared the vessel targeted had nothing to do with the Israel-Hamas war.

The Houthis “hit ships that are completely not associated or tied to the U.S. or Israel at all,” Blomberg said.

“These are just innocent merchant sailors carrying goods through the Red Sea, trying to get it through the least-expensive route, and they’re paying for it,” he said.

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Middle East crisis — explained

The conflict between Israel and Palestinians — and other groups in the Middle East — goes back decades. These stories provide context for current developments and the history that led up to them.

‘All eyes on Rafah’ is the Internet's most viral AI image. Two artists are claiming credit

Bobby Allyn

The image on the right was generated by Zila Abka in February. She says she created it with Microsoft’s Image Creator. On the left is the viral image that Amirul Shah said he created also using an AI image generator tool. Amirul Shah/AI generated image and Zila Abka/Microsoft Image Creator hide caption

Two Malaysians separated by 900 miles are both taking credit for a synthetic image of Gaza that became the most viral ever AI-generated photo, underscoring the complexities of authorship and ownership in an online landscape increasingly overrun with content created by artificial intelligence.

The story behind the “all eyes on Rafah” graphic, which has been shared about 50 million times on Instagram and other platforms, likely begins on the northern tip of the Southeast Asian island of Borneo.

There, back in February, Zila AbKa was at her home playing around with Microsoft’s AI tool Image Creator.

AbKa is a 39-year-old science teacher and an AI art hobbyist. She’s also a pro-Palestinian activist. She wanted to make a piece of political art that depicted those sheltering in camps in the Gazan city of Rafah.

Zila Abka is a school teacher in Malaysia. She is active in the Facebook group Prompters Malaya, a gathering place for mostly Malaysian AI artists to show their work. Zila Abka hide caption

After the phrase “all eyes on Rafah” started going viral, AbKa said she wrote a prompt for the AI tool to create an image that would have the phrase spelled out by white tents amid dense rows of other tent encampments. The words had become a rallying cry after a World Health Organization representative used them to draw attention to the situation in the region where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have fled.

When Microsoft’s Image Creator spit out a graphic, AbKa put two watermarks on it: One indicating it was generated by AI; another saying she was the creator.

She liked it. So she shared a post on Feb. 14 in her language — Malay — to the Facebook group Prompters Malaya , a gathering place of about 250,000 mostly Malaysians who share AI-generated art, sometimes about the war in Gaza.

“I wanted to spread and highlight the issue and hoped that everybody would do whatever they could to show solidarity with Gazans right now,” AbKa told NPR.

AbKa has not previously spoken out about making the image.

AbKa: 'I think this is mine,' but the watermarks are gone

From there, she basically forgot about it — until last week, when she saw a very similar image on Instagram, spreading rapidly following an Israeli strike in the city that killed dozens and prompted worldwide condemnation.

But the image was altered. Her watermarks were gone. And the image was expanded to include snow-capped mountains looming over the tents, an almost surrealist touch, an AI riff on Gaza’s Middle Eastern landscape.

Zila Abka generated this image in February. Zila Abka/Microsoft Image Creator hide caption

At first, she was offended that someone had laundered her image and removed her name from it. In addition, she was initially alarmed that the “AI generated” disclaimer was missing just as tens of millions of people were re-sharing it across the internet.

She zoomed in to examine every letter and corner of the viral image. She concluded that it had to be hers.

“Everything about the structure of the words and the arrangement of the ‘tents,’ it’s all the same, except for the expanded part,” she said. “When I saw it, I thought, yeah, I think this is mine.”

But her annoyance over not getting credit soon dissipated.

“I don’t think any generated AI image is fully someone’s belonging,” AbKa said.

Indeed, the U.S. Copyright Office has repeatedly rejected copyright protection for AI-generated images since they lack human authorship, placing the AI images in a legal gray area.

It was, however, AbKa’s unique prompt that summoned the image. She said that should be worth something, though galvanizing support for Gaza was always her main impetus.

“If the aim is to spread awareness,” AbKa said about the version of the image that went viral, “then I think I should thank that person.”

The person behind the account 'Shahv4012'

Amirul Shah is a college student and photographer in Malaysia. The “all eyes on Rafah” image he created has been shared nearly 50 million times on Instagram. Amirul Shah hide caption

That person is Amirul Shah, known as Shahv4012 on Instagram. He is also Malaysian.

The two do not know each other, nor have they ever communicated.

AbKa believes he took her image, edited it and created an Instagram “template,” which has since surged on social media, amassing nearly 50 million shares on Instagram and millions more on other social media platforms.

AbKa thinks Shah cropped her image right above her watermarks, then edited it with a tool that uses AI to expand and re-imagine the background of a photo. She believes this because she tried it herself on her own AI rendering and got results strikingly similar to the viral image.

Shah’s image has his own watermark on it with the tag of his Instagram account dedicated to his photography, @chaa.my_, giving the impression that the whole thing was his original undertaking.

Amirul Shah added his generated image to an Instagram template that was amplified by celebrities like Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid. Amirul Shah/AI generated image hide caption

When Shah was reached for an interview, he denied copying AbKa’s creation. Instead, he shared a different version of events.

Shah, a 21-year-old college student in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, has not previously spoken out about his process.

A photography enthusiast, Shah says he was toying around with an AI image generator recently. He thinks he used Microsoft’s Image Creator, the same service AbKa used, but he claims he can’t remember.

When he added it to an Instagram "template," it ricocheted around the world, as influencers and celebrities like Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid amplified it to their millions of followers.

The image looks uncannily like AbKa’s, but he claims he hadn't even seen AbKa's before making his own.

Still, the size of the words, placement of each letter and AI-generated clusters of tents next to the phrase are identical. But Shah’s version is portrayed from an higher aerial view, with deeper and longer shadows cast by snowy mountains.

He said he was giving all sorts of Gaza-related AI images a try as a form of activism, not angling for virality.

“My intention was not for popularity,” Shah told NPR. “I wanted to uphold justice for all Palestinians who are there.”

Shah says AI images spread faster

Technologists say that generating the same exact AI image twice is exceedingly unlikely.

In dozens of attempts to recreate the image using Microsoft’s Image Creator, NPR was not able to prompt the tool to create a visual that came close to the viral one. Most of the time, the tool struggled to correctly spell “All eyes on Rafah,” a limitation of many AI image generators, which tend to depict words misspelled or warped in some way.

These are the results produced for NPR by Microsoft’s Image Creator after given a prompt to produce a realistic-looking aerial photo of Rafah, with the phrase “all eyes on Rafah” superimposed among the tents. NPR/Microsoft Image Creator hide caption

Shah, who regularly shares posts on social media highlighting the plight of Palestinians, said he has noticed that real photos and videos of the war tend to have limited reach on Instagram.

“The picture from AI can spread faster in a short time,” he said. Shah says another problem is that he has had graphic images of war removed by Instagram for violating the platform’s policies. He said he’s aware that repeat violations can mean that “users can get blocked,” he said.

Felix Simon, a research fellow at the University of Oxford who studies AI’s impact on public discourse, said the image being created by artificial intelligence fueled its virality far less than other factors.

“The simplicity of the slogan, the symbolism at work, the timing and political context, and the fact that it was shared by celebrities,” said Simon, adding that “the lack of graphic content makes it less likely to get taken down, which helps, too.”

It is a concern that has been echoed by other activists who have claimed graphic imagery that shows the atrocities of the war in Gaza can be removed from platforms, or suppressed by social media algorithms.

Some commentators criticized the meme for portraying a sanitized version of war that renders human horrors on the ground in Gaza into an easily-shareable AI image.

Both AbKa and Shah reject that idea, saying AI images can be a useful way to grab peoples' attention and make them engage in some way with the war.

Yet there is no agreement among them about who created the viral image that has spurred discussion around the world about the authenticity of online activism and renewed attention on an internet increasingly rife with realistic-looking AI depictions.

When pressed in direct messages on Instagram for a response to AbKa’s contention that her image was copied, Shah blocked an NPR reporter.

NPR researcher Susie Cummings contributed to this report.

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