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President Putin moved his £75million superyacht three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine to avoid having it seized as part of war sanctions, a new investigation has claimed. Secret documents released by Russian investigative journalist Maria Pevchikh, who heads the anti-corruption foundation set up by Alexei Navalny, show the Russian president had his yacht ‘Graceful’ sail from from Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany to the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad two weeks before the invasion. The documents show an email was sent by an employee of Russia’s largest shipping company, the SCF Group, to Blohm & Voss saying the owner of Graceful is unhappy with an on-going “refit” and wants the ship to sail out of the Hamburg port on February 1, 2022. The email does not provide any reason why the owner of the yacht was unhappy with the on-going “refit”, which added two new balconies to the vessel and extended the pool. “The owner is not happy with the retrofit. He is dissatisfied with the delays in the construction process,” the email says. “The owner wants the Graceful to be brought to the Russian Federation on February 1st (...). Please mobilise an uninterrupted crew – 2 shifts.’ The email, sent on January 19, 2022, adds: “Please accelerate all works which may interfere with Graceful sailing out on 01 February. “Please calculate the amount to be paid by Owners due to early departure. Crew and myself will provide full assistance to prepare Graceful for Towing.” According to investigators, Blohm & Voss was set to work on Graceful for another year to fix open holes in its surface. But the company was forced to cancel its work and get the ship ready to set sail in just 12 days. The yacht’s crew, based in Hamburg, were also forced to move out of their homes so they could move the vessel. Reports suggest the company did not meet the deadline of February 1, with pictures showing Graceful being towed out of Hamburg on February 7. Sanctions imposed by the UK, US, European Union and other allied nations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have seen Putin and his allied Oligarchs have their assets seized across the world, including numerous superyachts and houses. But president Putin was preparing for this eventuality by ordering Graceful - which has since been renamed Kosatka (Russian for ‘killer whale’) - to return to a friendly port well in advance, according to investigators. Graceful is alleged to have cost the Russian president 87 million euros (£75 million) and has a 50-foot indoor swimming pool that turns into a theatre and dance floor with the press of a button, a helipad, a gym, and a wine cave that can store 400 bottles. It also features a large library, spa and plunge pools and a cocktail bar. President Putin allegedly owns three yachts, however, his officials deny this. As well as Graceful, Mr Putin is alleged to own the Olympia, gifted to him by a top oligarch almost two decades ago, and the £550 million ‘floating palace’ Scheherazade - seized by the West. Read More Scheherazade: Giant £570m superyacht ‘owned by Vladimir Putin’ is seized by Italian authorities Vladimir Putin owns £500m superyacht moored in Italy, Alexei Navalny allies claim Wealthy Russian businessman loses fight over detained superyacht The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Ohio concludes a hastily called and highly charged special election Tuesday, a contest that could determine the fate of abortion rights in the state and fuel political playbooks nationally heading into 2024. On the ballot is Issue 1, a proposal to raise the threshold for passing future changes to the state's constitution from a simple majority to 60%. But more passionately in the sights of the proposal's backers — including Republican officeholders — is a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that calls for enshrining access to reproductive care in the state's foundational document. The measure was clearly resonating with voters, who turned out in huge numbers during the early voting period, which ended Sunday. The number of advance ballots cast — a combination of mail and early in-person ballots — hit nearly 700,000, more than double the early vote during the state's two previous midterm primary elections in 2022 and 2018. Ohio's August elections have historically focused on local issues and been plagued with chronically low turnout. The Republican lawmakers who backed Issue 1 maintained that the measure was not about thwarting the fall abortion amendment, despite reinstating an August special election just like the ones they had only recently voted to eliminate. Raising the bar for passing citizen-led constitutional amendments could make it difficult, if not impossible, for the fall proposal to succeed, based on polling figures. Voters in several states, even deeply conservative ones, have affirmed abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, though usually with less than 60% of the vote. AP VoteCast polling last year found that 59% of Ohio voters say abortion should generally be legal. Out-of-state money has poured into both sides of the contest over the 60% threshold, even as both supporters and opponents say one of their main goals is to keep special interests from having more influence over state policy than average Ohioans. The campaign in favor of Issue 1, Protect Our Constitution, has told voters that raising the threshold will keep deep-pocketed interest groups from pushing redistricting, gun control and minimum wage policies on Ohio. One Person One Vote, the opposition campaign, argues that raising the threshold for passing future amendments would prioritize the interests of Ohio's increasingly conservative GOP supermajority at the statehouse over those of everyday voters. But abortion rights are at the epicenter of the fight, as Ohio and other states have been given control of their own abortion policies following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last summer. Ohio's ban on most abortions had been placed on hold under Roe and then allowed to take effect briefly after the court overturned it. Since then, it has been frozen again while a challenge alleging it violates the state constitution plays out. The abortion amendment would give individuals the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, including on contraception, fertility treatment, abortion and miscarriage care, until a fetus is viable outside the womb. At the same time, a broad bipartisan coalition opposes Issue 1 for other reasons. Former Ohio governors and attorneys general of both parties have come out against the constitutional change, calling it poor public policy. If passed it would reverse 111 years of direct democracy that has the potential to affect future citizen-led ballot efforts. Protect Women Ohio, the campaign against the fall abortion question, has spent millions on the August election — airing ads suggesting the measure not only codifies abortion, but could pressure children into receiving gender-affirming care and undercut parental rights. Several legal experts have said there is no language in the amendment supporting the ads' claims, but it follows a pattern through this election cycle of misinformation and fear-mongering being used to sway voters. Issue 1 opponents have aired ads and mobilized a large coalition, including voting rights, labor, faith and community groups, as well as the state Democratic Party. It was because of chronically low turnout that lawmakers voted just last year to scrap summer elections, prompting an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging this year's August special election violated the new law and calling further into question if it was brought back solely to thwart abortion rights for Ohioans. ___ The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___ Samantha Hendrickson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. 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