Ukraine seizes over $450 million worth of assets from three Russian oligarchs

Ukraine has seized assets worth more than Hr 17 billion ($464 million) from Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and Andrei Kosogov, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced on Oct. 6.

The three Russian oligarchs are believed to belong to Putin's inner circle and are involved in financing the war against Ukraine, the SBU said.

In total, 20 companies that the oligarchs own, either directly or through offshore companies, have been seized.

These include financial companies, communications and IT companies, insurance companies, and mineral water plants, the SBU said.

The seizure will prevent the businessmen from transferring the ownership of the companies to "fictitious persons in order to avoid the further transfer of assets to the income of Ukraine," the SBU said.

Fridman, Aven, and Kosogov are linked by their involvement in LetterOne, a Luxembourg-based investment company.

Fridman and Aven founded Alfa Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, and were targeted by U.S. and EU sanctions following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Reports emerged in March 2023 that the two were seeking to sell their stake in the bank to Kosogov, who had not been sanctioned.

In September 2023, the SBU announced that Fridman was under suspicion of financing the overthrow of constitutional order and seizure of power.

Born in Lviv, Fridman has Russian and Israeli citizenship, and has been living in the UK since 2015.

In December 2022, he was arrested in the U.K. and released on bail on suspicion of fraud-related offenses.

NGO: 88 Ukrainian companies owned by Russian military industry-linked oligarchs not confiscated

At least 88 Ukrainian companies directly or indirectly owned by Russian oligarchs linked to the country’s military industry have not yet been confiscated, the Trap Aggressor project of the StateWatch think-tank reported on Aug. 10.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek