Times of Israel
Oligarch was spotted in Ben Gurion VIP lounge on Monday, in first sighting since he was sanctioned; UK welcomes Israel’s announcement it won’t allow oligarchs to bypass sanctions
Roman Abramovich landed in Moscow early Tuesday morning after a short stop in Turkey, Reuters confirmed, hours after the Russian-Israeli oligarch was photographed in the VIP departure lounge at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Reuters said Abramovich is not in Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin, citing “a source familiar with the matter.” Flight data flagged by a Twitter account that tracks the movement of oligarchs’ aircraft showed that a Gulfstream G650 belonging to Abramovich flew from Ben Gurion to Istanbul on Monday. Then the plane left Turkey and reached Moscow after taking a circuitous route to avoid both southeastern Ukraine, where there is heavy fighting, and the north Caucasus, instead flying over Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian sea, Kazakhstan and finally Russia. Abramovich, an Israeli passport-holder, was sanctioned by the United Kingdom last week following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, essentially blocking him from his home in London. On Sunday night, his aircraft took off from Moscow and landed in Tel Aviv. He apparently spent less than 24 hours on the ground in Israel. On Monday afternoon, a large vehicle was seen leaving his Herzliya home.
