YouTube blocked the FBK investigation into Putin’s yacht “Scheherazade” arrested in Italy

hosting YouTube blocked last year’s video by associates of opposition leader Alexei Navalny about the connection between the Scheherazade superyacht arrested in Italy and President Vladimir Putin.

The notice from the hosting company, which FBK received , states a violation of YouTube’s rules “regarding harassment.” They demanded that “all confidential information” be removed from the video.

The text version of the investigation is still available .

At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the yacht was stationed in the Italian city of Marina di Carrara. The profile publication SuperYachtFan , which estimated the cost of the vessel at $700 million, previously noted that the owner of the yacht was not known.

The Italian financial police then launched an investigation to identify the ultimate owner. Formally, the 140-meter yacht belonged to an offshore company from the Marshall Islands and flew the flag of the Cayman Islands.

Although unnamed crew members told the New York Times that Putin owned it, the captain denied this to reporters. Navalny's associates gained access to a list of 58 crew members compiled at the port, and found among them employees of the Federal Security Service. Some of them worked at the presidential residences and on another yacht, Graceful , which was also associated with Putin.

As a result, the ship was arrested as part of the sanctions.