Russia has allegedly received more than 2.1 billion rubles ($23.5 million) from the sale of nationalized assets seized from "Ukrainian oligarchs" in occupied Crimea since 2022, said Russian proxy leader Vladimir Konstantinov in an interview with the state-run media outlet RIA Novosti published on June 11.
Proxy leaders in the occupied peninsula have issued a series of decrees since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine enabling the seizure of property and assets in Crimea owned by individuals deemed to be supportive of Kyiv.
Konstantinov said in December 2023 that Russia had "nationalized" properties belonging to 77 individuals and companies in occupied Crimea because of the purported "anti-Russian activities" of their owners.
Sergei Aksyonov, the head of the Russian occupation authority in Crimea, claimed that the proceeds of the sales would go toward Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
RFE/RL's Crimean service reported in October 2023 that Russian proxies in occupied Crimea had seized and subsequently auctioned off an apartment in the city of Yalta belonging to the family of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A Russian woman from Moscow reportedly bought the apartment for more than 44 million rubles ($477,000).
Martin Fornusek
