NOT SO FAST

Italy Seizes Another Russian Oligarch’s Precious Villa

Italian financial police have seized a seaside villa called Rocky Ram in Sardinia belonging to Russian Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin and his oligarch dad.

ROME—Italian police have added another stunning villa to their collection of sequestered Russian properties after seizing the so-called Rocky Ram belonging to former Formula One driver Nikita Dmitrievich Mazepin and his father, the chemical baron Dimitry Mazepin, on Monday.

The property, valued at around $115 million, sits on a cliff overlooking Sardinia’s rocky Paradise Beach coast and boasts some of the most expansive views of the turquoise waters and famous red rocks on the island. The nearest town is Porto Cervo, where, until Russia invaded Ukraine, a string of Russian superyachts were moored. Most moved out in mid-February.

Mazepin was dismissed by the U.S.-owned Formula One Hass team in March after being named on the European Union sanction list with his father—they jointly own the property, which was reportedly obtained with the help of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose erstwhile pal Vladimir Putin was a frequent visitor to the area. The elder Mazepin is a member of Putin’s inner circle and has been photographed on Berlusconi’s property by Italian paparazzi over the years. Mazepin’s Uralkali firm was also booted as a team sponsor by Hass when he was added to the sanctions list. The former driver was listed as a “person associated with a leading businessperson involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the government of the Russian Federation.”

Mazepin blamed his firing from Hass on “cancel culture” and has been outspoken about sanctions. “I don’t agree with being in sanctions and I’ve said previously that I intend to fight it,” the younger Mazepin told the BBC. “Perhaps now is not the right time because if you look at the whole situation that’s happening against athletes in the general case, it’s cancel culture against my country.”

Italian police have seized nearly $1 billion worth of Russian-owned villas, yachts, and art since sanctions began in early March after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The most expensive booty so far is Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko’s superyacht, valued at $575 million and now impounded in Trieste, according to Reuters.

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Barbie Latza Nadeau

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