Hawks on boats: Russia's ex-president Dmitry Medvedev buys new UK-built yacht and profits from livestock and “patriotic” video games

RU

The United Kingdom, often a target of Moscow’s inflammatory rhetoric, is a particular favorite of Medvedev’s. He has referred to the UK as Russia’s “eternal enemy” and fantasized about bombing London. Yet Medvedev’s disdain for the so-called “Anglo-Saxons” does not extend to their yachts.

“An island called Britain will likely sink in the coming years. Our hypersonic missiles will help if needed,” Medvedev declared in September 2024. However, mere months earlier, a yacht named Hurry Up, built the same year by Princess Yachts in Plymouth, England, had arrived in Russia. The yacht’s value is estimated at $4.3 million — nearly half a billion rubles at the current exchange rate.