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| Putin inspects Russian weapon |
The United States plans to direct confiscated Russian funds to Ukraine, via Estonia, according to a report from Politico over the weekend. It appears to be the first sign of a concerted U.S. effort to take financial steps designed to impede Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his efforts to bully neighboring countries. Meanwhile, one of our top constitutional scholars, Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, suggested that is not the only financial step the U.S. can take to throw a wrench into Putin's plans.
Under the headline "DOJ: Confiscated Russian funds will support Ukraine — via Estonia," Politico's Olivia Alafriz writes:
The U.S. will transfer confiscated Russian funds to Estonia to be used in support of Ukraine, the Justice Department announced Saturday.
The nearly $500,000 sum was secured from “an illegal procurement network attempting to import into Russia a high-precision, U.S.-origin machine tool with uses in the defense and nuclear proliferation sectors,” according to a DOJ press release.
The news comes just days after reports that Russia is trying to develop a nuclear space weapon that would destroy satellites by creating a massive energy wave when detonated, potentially crippling a vast swath of the commercial and government satellites that the world below depends on to talk on cell phones, pay bills, and surf the internet, according to three sources familiar with US intelligence about the weapon.
U.S. plans to transfer funds to Ukraine come at a critical time in its war with Russia and is historic in nature. Reports Alafriz:
“This is an incremental step toward justice and restoration. But it is a necessary step. And it blazes a new trail towards combatting Russia’s ongoing brutality,” said Monaco in remarks prepared for delivery at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
“The Department of Justice will continue pursuing creative solutions to ensure the Ukrainian people can respond and rebuild. Dollar by dollar. house by house. town by town,” Monaco added, noting that the administration would not wait for Congress, but rather would use existing authorities to provide assistance to Ukraine.
The DOJ statement provides more details:
This is the second time the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture has made confiscated Russian assets available for Ukraine—having provided $5.4 million in forfeited funds last year to the State Department for the support of Ukrainian war veterans. The confiscated funds are being transferred to Estonia since under current authorities, the facts of this case do not allow for a direct transfer to Ukraine. Estonia will use the funds for a project to expedite damage assessments and critical repairs to the Ukrainian electrical distribution and transmission system, which have been purposefully targeted by Russian forces.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates the unwavering resolve of the United States and our Estonian partners to cut off President Putin's access to the western technologies he relies on to wage an illegal war against Ukraine,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who signed the transfer agreement on behalf of the United States. “This step for justice and restoration blazes a new trail toward combating Russia’s ongoing brutality. The Department of Justice will continue pursuing creative solutions to ensure the Ukrainian people can respond and rebuild.”
“Preventing cross-border crime has been and will be an even greater priority in the future,” said Secretary General Tõnis Saar of the Estonian Ministry of Justice.“Effective prosecution of sanctioned crimes is a very important part of this. In my opinion, this agreement provides additional motivation to deal with sanctions violations even more. The reason is very simple, the goal here is not only to detect, prosecute and ensure justice, but to direct illegal income to the victim, i.e. Ukraine. I hope that this will become the new normality for sanctioned crimes in other countries in the future.”
“Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Department of Justice, together with its U.S. and overseas partners, has leveraged every tool available to cut off the Kremlin from the resources it needs to prosecute its war of aggression. These efforts are yielding results,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today, we demonstrate once again our commitment to holding Russia to account and to aiding the people of Ukraine as they bravely resist and rebuild.”
Other officials said it was critical that this piece of equipment did not reach Russian hands:
“I commend the investigators who prevented this sensitive piece of Connecticut-manufactured equipment from crossing the Russian border, and our team of prosecutors who are not only bringing the individuals and entities involved to justice but have worked to seize and forfeit the funds involved in its purchase,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut. “We thank our law enforcement partners and the Government of the Republic of Estonia for helping us achieve our mission to chase down the assets of those who violate our laws and to ensure proper compensation to their victims.”
“This agreement between the United States and Estonia not only reinforces our strong partnership, it fortifies the commitments of both countries to stand up to Russian aggression,” said Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “This transfer stems from a joint investigation into the attempted illegal shipment of military materials to aid the Russian war against Ukraine. HSI will continue to ensure the safety of the homeland of this great nation, and when necessary, that of our allies.”
“The Putin regime has purposefully targeted critical and civil infrastructure in Ukraine to weaken morale, cripple the Ukrainian economy, and use winter as a weapon of war. The funds we are providing to Estonia today will be used to dramatically reduce the time needed to evaluate and prioritize urgent repairs to Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure, all in an effort to literally keep the lights on,” said Task Force KleptoCapture Co-Director Michael Khoo.
As for Harvard Law's Laurence Tribe and additional steps the U.S. could take against Putin, he writes at X (formerly) Twitter.
What are we waiting for? Putin’s assets of more than $300b are there to be seized for helping Ukraine, [Alexey] Navalny’s homeland. The US and our allies need to do what international law allows and morality demands.NOW!
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