United to win: US to give Estonia $500,000 of confiscated Russian assets for Ukrainian aid

For the first time in history, the United States of America handed over confiscated Russian assets to Estonia, which will be used to support Ukraine.

The US Ministry of Justice reported this.

Today, at the Munich Security Conference, US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Estonian Secretary General Tõnis Saar announced the transfer of $500,000 from confiscated Russian assets.

These funds were seized in connection with an illegal procurement ring. Specifically, the group attempted to bring an American-made grinding machine into Russia to be used in defense and nuclear proliferation activities. On February 14, one of the suspects, a Latvian citizen, has already admitted to breaking US export laws and regulations.

The confiscated funds cannot be directly transferred to Ukraine, so they are transferred to Estonia. The country will use the money for a project to accelerate damage assessment and repair of the Ukrainian energy system.

"This step toward justice and recovery paves a new path in the fight against Russia's continued brutality. The Ministry of Justice will continue to look for creative solutions so that the Ukrainian people can […] rebuild," US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco stressed.

This is the first transfer of funds from the United States to a foreign ally for the benefit of Ukraine. In general, the USA has provided Ukraine with confiscated Russian assets for the second time; the first time, the amount reached 5.4 million dollars.

For reference:

From 2022 to 2023, and as of the beginning of August, the Security Service of Ukraine seized the assets of Russian business people financing the war, worth almost 190 billion hryvnias.

In addition, the assets of Russian oligarchs are being seized abroad:

• Great Britain has frozen more than 18 billion pounds ($23 billion) of assets and imposed sanctions against more than 1,550 Russians since the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and as of mid-June this year.
• In the Czech Republic, the assets of Russian oligarch Volodymyr Yevtushenkov, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, were frozen.
• Poland also offered to give the frozen assets of the Russian Federation to Ukraine and EU countries.
• In Germany, blocking Russian assets worth more than 4 billion euros was possible.
• The EU is studying the procedure for the confiscation of 200 billion euros of frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. The European Commission is also developing its proposals.
• Belgium created a special fund to support Ukraine in the amount of 1.7 billion euros, filled with taxes on Russian assets frozen in the country.
• In July, Italy announced that it had frozen the assets of Russian oligarchs worth about 2 billion euros after the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine last year.
• European Union ambassadors agreed on January 29 to use the profits from frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.