MSNBC and other sources are reporting that a Russian-owned super yacht - the Graceful - was in a German yard for luxury upgrades. The yacht, reputedly owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, suddenly left the Hamburg shipyard yesterday before the work was finished. It transited the Kiel Canal and sailed for a Russian Baltic port, Kaliningrad or St. Petersburg.
It is speculated this was done to put it beyond the grasp of NATO seizure in the event that Russia again invades Ukraine. Obviously no announcement of owner's intent, or identity, was forthcoming.
An alternative explanation might be an intent to send a further gray-area threatening-but-short-of-war signal to the West and to Ukraine, amping up the pressure. And of course moving the yacht could serve both ends sequentially.
