$5.4 million
“In support of the Ukrainian people”: US transfers first oligarch millions to Kyiv
At the announcement in Washington, US Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin were present
© J Scott Applewhite/AP/DPA
It is about “that the perpetrator pays for the damage inflicted”. In a first payment, they transfer 5.4 million dollars from the billions of dollars in assets owned by a Russian oligarch to Ukraine.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland has announced the first transfer of confiscated money from a Russian oligarch to Ukraine. The money confiscated from influential Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeev will go to the US State Department “in support of the Ukrainian people,” Garland told CNN. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin was also present at the announcement in Washington. According to him, the transfer includes $ 5.4 million (equivalent to around 4.7 million euros), which would be used for the “reconstruction of Ukraine”.
Oligarch Malofeev is considered one of the most important financiers of pro-Russian separatists
According to Garland, Malofeev’s assets were seized in April 2022 after he was charged with evading existing sanctions against him. At the time, Garland’s ministry – which is also the top federal law enforcement agency in the US – said the billionaire had tried to circumvent those sanctions to “secretly” buy media in Europe. Malofeev is considered one of the most important financiers of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
“All Ukrainians have suffered from this war in one way or another,” Ukrainian Attorney General Kostin wrote on Twitter about the millions transfer that has now been announced by Washington. It is “our duty to ensure that the Ukrainian people receive compensation for the entire, enormous damage”. Accountability for those responsible for the war in Russia goes hand in hand with “the perpetrator paying for the damage inflicted”.
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Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the US has launched numerous rounds of sanctions against Russian companies or citizens. The punitive measures aim, among other things, to freeze the assets of the people affected in the USA. In addition, US banks are prohibited from all interactions with those sanctioned.