Two superyachts owned by Roman Abramovich dock in Turkey

Pro-Ukraine protesters earlier attempted to block Russian-Israeli oligarch’s ‘Solaris’ from nearby port of Bodrum, carrying signs reading ‘No war’

A second superyacht belonging to sanctioned Russian-Israeli oligarch Roman Abramovich, owner of the Chelsea soccer club, has docked in a resort in southwestern Turkey, Turkish media reports said Tuesday.

The private DHA news agency said the Bermuda-registered Eclipse docked at a port in the resort of Marmaris, amid international efforts to freeze assets belonging to top Russian businessmen linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A day earlier, Abramovich’s Bermuda-flagged luxury yacht Solaris arrived in the nearby resort of Bodrum, triggering a protest by a group of Ukrainians who boarded a small motorboat and tried to prevent the yacht from docking.

Turkey’s private NTV television said the Solaris docked at the southern port in Turkey — which has not joined sanctions on Russia — after departing from Montenegro.

A group of Ukrainians carrying Ukrainian flags with the words “No War” emblazoned on them boarded a small motor boat and tried to prevent the yacht from docking, the Sozcu newspaper reported.

It was not known if Abramovich was aboard either yacht or if they were simply moved to avoid sanctions.

Here is the video of the protest against the Russian billionaire Abramovich in Bodrum, which has taken on Monday pic.twitter.com/gOZPLuhVLE

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) March 22, 2022

Last week, the European Union updated a list of individuals facing asset freezes and travel bans over their ties to the Kremlin and began imposing sanctions on Abramovich. The 55-year-old had already been sanctioned in Britain.

NATO member Turkey has close ties to both Russia and Ukraine. It has criticized Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine but has also positioned itself as a neutral party trying to mediate between the two.

Turkey has closed the Turkish Straits connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to most Russian warships but has not imposed sanctions on Russia or shut down its airspace to Russian flights.

Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich sits in his box before their English Premier League soccer match against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, December 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Last week, Abramovich arrived in Istanbul from Tel Aviv aboard his private jet before departing for Moscow the next morning.

Israel has faced criticism for not seeking to sanction Abramovich — who holds Israeli citizenship — or any other Russian oligarchs. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said last week, however, that “Israel will not be a route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other Western countries.”