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The United States Justice Department headquarters building on Jan. 20, 2024, in Washington, DC. (J. David Ake/Getty Images)
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A number of sanctioned Russian oligarchs and their associates in the United States were arrested or indicted on Feb. 22, the U.S. Justice Department announced.

The enforcement actions coincide with the U.S. announcing new sanctions against Russia on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"The Justice Department is more committed than ever to cutting off the flow of illegal funds that are fueling (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war and to holding accountable those who continue to enable it," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

In the Southern District of New York, the Justice Department unsealed charges against sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrey Kostin and two of his U.S.-based facilitators, Vadim Belyaev and Gannon Bond. Belyaev and Bond were arrested on Feb. 22.

A grand jury in Florida charged sanctioned pro-Russian Ukrainian businessman Serhii  Kurchenko in a sanctions-evasion scheme involving approximately $330 million. Also in Florida, the U.S. filed a civil forfeiture complaint against luxury properties, worth $2.5 million, owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Perevalov.

In a case in Atlanta, U.S.-based dual national Feliks Medvedev pleaded guilty to laundering over $150 million for Russian clients.

In Washington, D.C., Russian businessman Vladislav Osipov was charged with bank fraud.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that since February 2022, the Justice Department had won judgments to forfeit nearly $700 million in Russian assets.

"The charges we announce today against oligarchs, facilitators, and money launderers are the next chapter: so long as Russia's aggression continues, so too will our resolve to hold its enablers accountable," Monaco said.

EU ambassadors agree on 13th package of sanctions against Russia
“This package is one of the broadest approved by the EU. It will undergo a written procedure and be formally approved for February 24,” the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council said on social media.

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Zelensky arrives in South Africa to meet President Ramaphosa.

"We count on South Africa’s meaningful participation in the International Coalition for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. We will also certainly strengthen our cultural and educational ties," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
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Trump says he may meet Putin 'shortly' after May Middle East visit.

Despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Trump and Putin have yet to have direct contact, communicating only through their officials. Trump's last in-person encounter with his Russian counterpart was during the 2018 Helsinki Summit during the U.S. president's first term.
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Ukrainians react to US proposal of recognizing Crimea as Russian.

The U.S. media outlet Axios reported on April 23 that the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's final proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine war included the U.S. de jure recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and de facto recognizing its control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. We asked Kyiv residents for their reactions to the U.S. proposal.
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Trump says 'nobody is asking' Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian.

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