For a few dozen Russian billionaires, generally and not always accurately referred to in the West as oligarchs, the invasion of Ukraine has been a lifestyle adjustment. Many of those who once spent their days on superyachts or strolling around Belgravia’s Eaton Square have decamped, some returning to Russia and others scattering to the few remaining ports of call that will take them. As of yet, thirty-eight of them have been subjected to sanctions and asset freezes by the United States, Canada, the UK, the EU, and other nations.

While many in Vladimir Putin’s orbit have faced sanctions in the past — Putin’s friends from the old neighborhood, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, have dodged them for years — the new sanctions are more draconian. Excluding some key figures, dozens in Putin’s inner circle have been effectively blocked from entering and doing business in several Western nations. Alisher Usmanov, majority shareholder in Metalloinvest, was recently parted from his superyacht, which has the distinction being the world’s largest indoor swimming pool on a boat. Igor Sechin, nicknamed Darth Vader, head of the energy company Rosneft, saw his yacht confiscated at La Ciotat.

But among those caught up in the dragnet, Roman Abramovich is by far the most visible. A multibillionaire with interests in Millhouse Capital and the Chelsea Football Club, Abramovich had his UK assets frozen and was banned from entering the country (part of the peace delegation to Ukraine, he now appears to have been poisoned by hardliners opposed to reconciliation). Having built spectacular wealth through a combination of seemingly legitimate means and shady financial transactions involving numerous shell companies, Abramovich’s ostentation, even compared to other billionaires in his class, is staggering.