$115 million Italian mansion linked to Russian oligarch and racecar driver seized: report

Italian financial police snatched up another mansion linked to a Russian oligarch. This one is located on Sardinia's Porto Cervo, on the northeast of the Italian island. It is named "Rocky Ram" and is owned by the son of Dmitry Mazepin, a majority shareholder and chair of Uralchem. Mazepin's 23-year-old son is a race car driver and the home is worth about $115 million, the Daily Beast reported Tuesday.

“Following verifications on subjects that are part of the current European Union sanctions list, an impounding order was served on Dmitry Mazepin and his son Nikita Mazepin, a driver with the Formula 1 team Haas until March 5, on a residential complex worth 105 million Euro and traceable to both through an overseas company," a spokesman for the Italian Financial Police told the Daily Mail.

Last month, after the Ukraine invasion began, the younger Mazepin was removed from the Haas Formula One (F1) team and they cut the sponsor Uralkali.

The elder Mazepin was among the Russian billionaires who met with Vladimir Putin on Feb. 2022 to discuss sanctions from NATO. The property is owned by both Mazepins, though it's listed under a Cyprus shell company named Ferimod Investments which was created in 2009. The beneficiary is Mazepin, however.

The Italian villa looks over stunning seas where a group of Russian superyachts was once located. Most left in mid-February after it became clear countries were willing to start seizing assets for those affiliated with the invasion of Ukraine.

The son has attacked the backlash against him as part of "cancel culture," a phrase used by the right-wing in response to collective public accountability for misdeeds.

“I don’t agree with being in sanctions and I’ve said previously that I intend to fight it,” he told the BBC. “Perhaps now is not the right time because if you look at the whole situation that's happening against athletes in the general case, it’s cancel culture against my country.”

The mansion is 12,917 square feet and boasts six bedrooms, four staff rooms, seven guest bathrooms and four staff bathrooms. There is a "main pool" as well as "many other pools, including a cave," said an international real estate listing.

"The ground floor comprises a living room with TV area and fireplace, dining area with kitchen, separate kitchen and bathroom/ There is a master suite with bathroom and walk-in closet, a relaxation-entertainment area, hot tub, 3 double bedrooms with private bathroom, walk-in closets and relaxation-entertainment area," said a different listing on the Financial Times site.