Ukrainian protesters in small dingy attempt to stop Abramovich’s yacht from docking

The protesters carried Ukraine flags

Ukrainian protesters attempted to stop one of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s yachts from docking in the Turkish port of Bodrum.

The luxury yacht, ‘Solaris’, which is reportedly worth around £450m, departed from Montenegro last week and attempted to dock in the Turkish resort on Monday (March 21).

However, it was met by a group of protesters – carrying Ukraine flags with the phrase ‘No War’ printed on them – who had boarded a small dinghy and tried to prevent the yacht from docking.

Despite the protests, Abramovich’s yacht was eventually able to dock.

It’s unclear if Abramovich was on board the yacht docking in Bodrum

It is not known if the Chelsea owner – who has been sanctioned by the UK government and EU in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – was on board or if it was simply moved to Turkey to avoid the sanctions.

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— шон (@Snuffy44449629) March 21, 2022

Although Montenegro is not currently part of the EU, it is expected to become a member by 2025. Given this, and the fact that the country agreed to join the sanctions on Russia earlier this month, the Solaris was potentially at risk of being seized if it had remained in the port of Tivat.

However, as Turkey has not imposed any sanctions on Russia – and has acted as a neutral party in the conflict – Abramovich’s yacht should not be able to be seized while docked in the country.

Several other Russian oligarchs have had their yachts targeted

As reported by the Daily Mail, Abramovich’s fellow Russian oligarch Dmitrievich Pumpyansky has also had his yachts targeted as part of the recent sanctions.

The owner of steel group TMK reportedly had his ‘Axioma’ yacht seized while it was moored in Gibraltar earlier this week.

Other oligarchs, including Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko, Alexei Mordashov and Igor Sechin are also said to have had their yachts seized in recent weeks.

Chelsea bidders are set to find out imminently if they have been shortlisted in the race to buy Chelsea from Abramovich.