Russia-Ukraine conflict: US granted authority to seize planes belonging to Roman Abramovich

The sanctions the West and other countries imposed upon Russia also targeted Moscow’s oligarchs with ties to Vladimir Putin. The US was recently granted the authority to seize two planes belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Reuters reports Monday that a US court issued warrants for the seizure of two luxury planes owned by Abramovich as part of sanctions by Washington that also target Russian billionaires, according to court records.

While Abramovich played a part in overseeing talks between Russia and Ukraine in the early onset of the invasion, he was sanctioned by the European Union and the UK.

A DOJ official said the $350 million Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the $60 million Gulfstream G650 ER are not in US custody and did not disclose whether the US knows the locations of the aircraft.

A federal judge in New York issued the warrants on the basis that the recent flights committed a violation of US export controls that were imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The DOJ official said the warrants are likely going to discourage companies from helping move the aircraft.

The Commerce Department filed administrative charges against the oligarch. The Commerce Department said Abramovich’s Gulfstream plane flew from Istanbul to Moscow on March 12, left the next day for Tel Aviv, and flew from Istanbul to Moscow again on March 15. The Boeing plane flew from Dubai to Moscow on March 4, according to the agency.

This comes as US officials are attempting to pressure business leaders with ties to Putin to get him to cease what the Kremlin described as a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that she did all she could to prevent the ongoing situation in Ukraine from happening, but she does not blame herself for not trying hard enough.

“It’s a great sadness that it didn’t work out, but I don’t blame myself for not trying,” said Merkel, referring to the 2014 Minsk agreement with Russia.

Merkel, who led the West in imposing sanctions on Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014, said the Minsk agreement eased the situation and gave Ukraine time to emerge into the country that it is today.

“What would have happened if nobody cared in 2014 Putin just continued? I don’t want to know that at all,” said Merkel, who also said that there was no justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.