Allies freeze $330 billion in Russian assets since Ukraine invasion: task force

A sanctions task force of top Ukrainian allies has frozen more than $330 billion in financial assets owned by Russia’s elite and central bank since Moscow troops invaded, the group said on Wednesday.

The Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force (REPO) said in a joint statement that it had blocked $30 billion in assets held by Russian oligarchs and officials and immobilized $300 billion held by the Central Bank of Russia.

They have also arrested at least five luxury yachts and frozen opulent properties owned by the country’s billionaires.

“Together we will ensure that our sanctions continue to impose costs on Russia for its unprovoked and ongoing aggression in Ukraine,” the group said in a statement released by the U.S. Treasury Department.

REPO was formed on March 17, three weeks after Ukraine was invaded, to increase economic pressure on Moscow in hopes of persuading Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.

Its membership includes senior financial and legal officials from the United States, Australia, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Commission.

They have steadily moved to seize luxury estates and megayachts belonging to Russian billionaires known to have ties to Putin.

But they have also worked to isolate Moscow in the global financial system, making it difficult for the Kremlin to deploy its money in global markets.

They have restricted Moscow’s ability to acquire advanced technologies.

On Sunday, Britain, Canada, Japan and the United States jointly announced they would ban the purchase of gold from Russia to prevent the country and its tycoons from using the metal to evade sanctions.

REPO warned against continuing to pursue the assets of wealthy and powerful Russians.

“The work of REPO is ongoing,” they said. “We continue to increase the cost to Russia of its war.”