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STORY: British Transport Minister, Grant Shapps who was speaking alongside the yacht said "we cannot have any benefit to these Oligarchs with close connections to Putin whilst that terrible war is going on in Ukraine."

The 58.5 meter Dutch-built yacht, named Phi, was detained in the Canary Wharf financial district of London under the government's Russian sanctions, the first time the regulations have been used to detain a ship.

The government said Phi was owned by a Russian businessman, although they did not reveal his identity but they said the ships' ownership was 'deliberately' hidden, with the company the ship is registered to based in St Kitts and Nevis, and the ship carrying Maltese flags.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the owner of the vessel had not been sanctioned in Britain but that under the law a ship owned, controlled, chartered or operated by persons connected with Russia could be subject to detention.

The yacht, which features a fresh-water swimming pool and what it described as an 'infinite wine cellar', was built by shipbuilders Royal Huisman.

Britain has, along with international allies, introduced waves of sanctions on institutions, businesses and wealthy elites, seeking to cripple the Russian economy and punish those with links to the Kremlin for the invasion of Ukraine.