Roman Abramovich's $65 million private jet apparently flew from Moscow to Israel, and then to Istanbul after his assets were frozen by UK sanctions

Kate Duffy
Updated ·2 min read

  • Roman Abramovich's private jet flew from Israel to Istanbul on Monday, flight tracking data indicates.

  • The UK froze the Chelsea FC owner's assets last week as part of sanctions against Russian oligarchs.

  • Abramovich has citizenship in Israel, where planes owned by other oligarchs have landed.

A private jet said to be owned by the sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich flew from Moscow to Israel to Istanbul on Monday, according to multiple reports.

Data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed Abramovich's plane make the short trip from Tel Aviv across the Mediterranean Sea earlier on Monday.

Reuters reported that the jet left from Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport.

Monday's flight to Turkey comes a day after the Gulfstream G650ER jet with the registration LX-RAY took off from Moscow on Sunday afternoon and landed in Tel Aviv in the evening, data from Flightradar24 indicates.

Video: Vladimir Putin may be one of the wealthiest men in the world

The flight to Istanbul lasted a little under two hours, while the flight to Tel Aviv lasted 5 1/2 hours, the Flightradar24 data shows. It's unclear whether Abramovich was onboard.

The jet had previously flown to Moscow from Istanbul on Saturday, the Flightradar24 data indicates.

Various reports have identified Abramovich as the owner of the plane. A Twitter user who made headlines tracking Elon Musk's jet and now tracks the whereabouts of jets owned by Russian billionaires has also identified Abramovich as the jet's owner.

Gulfstream says its G650ER jet can seat up to 19 passengers and sleep up to 10 people. A private-jet comparison site suggests it costs $65 million.

Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, was among the seven Russian oligarchs the UK sanctioned on Thursday. The sanctions include freezing the oligarchs' assets and barring them from doing business with the country.

Abramovich has an estimated net worth of $13.6 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

He announced earlier this month that he would sell Chelsea FC, but the UK's sanctions mean he can't go ahead with the sale.

The billionaire was reportedly granted Israeli citizenship in 2018 after facing delays in renewing his UK visa.

Over the past two weeks, at least 14 private jets from Russia are said to have landed in Israel, whose government has not sanctioned any Russian oligarchs, The Times of Israel reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider