US wants to confiscate frozen Russian assets worth $700 million - Ministry of Justice

In a statement, the agency announced that on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US Department of Justice declared "new charges, arrests, and forfeiture proceedings against the criminal networks that fuel the Russian war machine."

According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department is "more committed than ever to standing with our partners in Ukraine against Russian aggression."

"During that time we have seized, restrained, or sought the forfeiture of nearly $700 million in assets of sanctioned oligarchs and other enables of the Russian regime," he stated.

The Attorney General also mentioned that the US has "disrupted schemes to illegally export military-grade technologies to Russia, we have brought charges against 70 individuals and 5 corporate entities for sanctions evasion, export control violations, money laundering, and other crimes."

Furthermore, the US Department of Justice revealed investigations into war crimes falling under US jurisdiction.

"We filed the first-ever charges under the US War Crimes statute against four Russia-affiliated military personnel for heinous crimes against an American citizen," he stated.

Confiscation of Russian assets

At the end of last year, the Western press reported that the United States proposed to the Group of Seven countries to confiscate frozen Russian assets amounting to $300 billion for the benefit of Ukraine. The initiative was supposed to be agreed upon by February 24, 2024, but the matter is still under discussion among the partners.

As Deputy Minister of Justice Iryna Mudraya stated, this year Ukraine expects the transfer of $4 billion from frozen Russian assets in G7 and EU countries.