Alisher Usmanov’s €600,000 bulletproof car seized in Sardinia as part of EU sanctions

Police in Italy have seized a €600,000 ($668,470) armoured car belonging to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

The bulletproof black Mercedes Maybach S650 Guard VR10 was impounded by officers in Sardinia as they enforced EU sanctions.

The Uzbek-born mining magnate, who was once named as the richest person in the UK, has already lost a €17 million villa in Sardinia and six companies worth €66 million.

Mr Usmanov, whose net worth is an estimated $18.4 billion, bought the car, which is also designed to protect against gas attacks, in 2018.

The Italian press have hinted that the car may have been used to transport Russian President Vladimir Putin whilst on visits to Sardinia.

Earlier this month the UK sanctioned Mr Usmanov, citing his close links to Mr Putin, and froze his assets and imposed a travel ban.

"Our message to Putin and his allies has been clear from day one – invading Ukraine would have serious and crippling economic consequences," Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

"Sanctioning Usmanov sends a clear message that we will hit oligarchs and individuals closely associated with the Putin regime and his barbarous war. We won’t stop here. Our aim is to cripple the Russian economy and starve Putin’s war machine."

Mr Usmanov had significant interests in English football clubs Arsenal and Everton and he owns Beechwood House in Highgate, worth an estimated £48 million ($63.13 million), and the 16th-century Sutton Place estate in Surrey.

He is the founder of USM Holdings, which works in sectors including extractives and telecoms. The company sponsors Everton football club's training ground.

He paid the club £30 million in January 2020 to secure an exclusive option on naming rights for its proposed new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, which is scheduled to be completed by 2023.

The deal has been suspended with the club saying it was “shocked and saddened by the appalling events unfolding in Ukraine".

Earlier this month, Mr Usmanov’s $594m superyacht Dilbar, the world’s largest by volume, was seized by German authorities in Hamburg.

On Monday, the UK seized the first Russian-owned superyacht in its waters since announcing sanctions against more than 1,000 individuals and businesses.

The £38 million yacht, Phi, was first identified as belonging to a Russian oligarch on March 13, the government said.

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

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Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

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Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.

Alisher Usmanov’s €600,000 bulletproof car seized in Sardinia as part of EU sanctions

Uzbek-born mining magnate has already lost a €17m villa and six companies worth €66m

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history