Since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian courts have become 1.5 times more likely to seize suspects’ property. According to a new investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe, judges froze nearly 1.3 trillion rubles ($14.7 billion) in felony cases in 2022 and 2023.
The formal reason for seizing these assets is to ensure the payment of fines, procedural costs, and possible damages, but opaque expertise often leads courts to confiscate funds far in excess of these amounts, sometimes outright bankrupting individuals. Judges can even go after assets owned by relatives or anyone else (including businesses) if investigators argue that they obtained the property from the suspect or by illegal means or if there is reason to think they might use the property “for activities against national security.”