Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova, glittering fixtures in London, St. Barts and the French Riviera, have been keeping a low profile since Abramovich’s friend, Vladimir Putin, invaded Ukraine.
Abramovich owns five megayachts — the biggest and newest being the 533-foot Eclipse — one of which was often moored near Cannes for the annual film festival. But the couple was conspicuously absent this year.
The Russian oligarch, worth $9.4 billion according to Forbes, has also barely been seen lately at the matches of his Chelsea Football Club.
“Abramovich’s attendance has been erratic for much of this campaign. He has been to few, if any, away games,” the Daily Mail reported.
Gorgeous Zhukova, mother of two of Abramovich’s seven children, and an art dealer, used to be photographed at A-list events around the world, from the Venice Biennale to Paris fashion week. But the last public events she attended seem to be a museum gala in Los Angeles in March and a soccer game in the UK on May 1.
“The two have basically disappeared, and he has doubled his security,” said a Russian expat. “He’s obviously on high alert.”
The couple hasn’t been seen in New York since April 2013, when they docked the Eclipse on the Hudson River for two months so Dasha could give birth to their second child.
An Abramovich associate disputed any retreat from the limelight. “He and Dasha don’t need a yacht to attend Cannes, as everyone knows they have a house nearby,” said this source. “And Dasha is all over the society pages at events all over the place recently so you must not be looking in the right places.”
Perhaps London-based Abramovich is just busy taking precautions. Some pols have suggested the US and European governments try to seize his assets. He’s probably not in a partying mood.