Kremlin has turned expropriations into a weapon by 2024, writes Alexander Nekrassov. It threatens to keep Western assets in Russian territory if the United States and the European Union in turn seize Russian assets frozen by the invasion of Ukraine, he says.

The Kremlin pressures its own citizens to appropriate their assets if they are convicted of criticizing its army or evading the draft, he adds. The confiscatory policy coincides with a wave of partial privatizations with which the Kremlin tries to squeeze as much money as possible to pay for its war.