The teenager, known for tracking Elon Musk’s plane, has begun tracking the flight paths of Russian oligarchs as they move more closely after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a new Twitter account set up over the weekend, 19-year-old Jack Sweeney of Florida has already amassed nearly 162,000 followers as the teenager tracks the private jets of at least 21 Russian billionaires and tycoons.
According to the new @RuOligarchJets account, private planes and helicopters of Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, take off and land in various destinations, including Moscow, Baku, St. Kitts and Nevis and Dubai on Monday.
In addition to tracking flight movements, Sweeney monitors other measures, including fuel consumption and costs.
According to @RuOligarchJets, Abramovich’s Jet LX-RAY, which landed in Baku, had a flight time of 2 hours and 27 minutes, uses 3767 kg of jet fuel, which costs $ 6369 and consumes 13 tons of CO2 emissions.
Other oligarchs followed by Sweeney include steel tycoon Alexander Abramov. According to Sweeney’s tracking, Abramov’s planes and helicopters took off and landed in locations around the world, including London, the Seychelles, Antigua and Barbuda and Abu Dhabi.
Speaking to NBC, the 19-year-old student from the University of Central Florida said: “It was just crazy. I just decided that some people would be interested. I just didn’t think all kinds of people would be. “
Sweeney, who studies information technology, added: “Before that, I didn’t even know there were any [influential] oligarchs like that. They probably have decent power from what I can tell. “
Howard Stoffer, a professor of international affairs and a specialist in Russia at the University of New Haven, told NBC that these oligarchs “are glamorous to Russia.”
“They have to be disclosed and they have to pay any price that a country can derive from them… Take them [airplane] queue number. “Tell the governments that these are the people, this is where they are, and let them do what they think is right,” he added.
Along with Russian billionaires, Sweeney also began tracking the routes of planes and planes owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He launched @PutinJet last week, but added a disclaimer, saying“But don’t expect this to be too accurate, there are a dozen VIP Russian planes and ADS-B [Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast] the coverage is not great in Russia. “
In addition to the Russian president and tycoons, Sweeney has created at least 16 other automated Twitter accounts that track the flights of the rich and famous, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and rapper Drake.
“They’re either really prominent people, or they’re just really interesting,” Sweeney said recently, referring to the people she’s following.