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The United States is rolling out new charges and actions aimed at hampering what U.S. officials describe as the "Russian war machine" just days before the world marks the second anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The Justice Department announced progress Thursday in five separate cases against key Russian oligarchs and their financial associates, including two arrests of U.S.-based facilitators and a guilty plea for money laundering.
In addition, the U.S. moved to seize $2.5 million worth of luxury condominiums in Miami, Florida, as part of a civil forfeiture case against Russian oligarch Viktor Perevalov.
While some of the actions, including new charges against oligarchs and others linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, may not yield immediate results, officials said the message to Ukraine is clear.
"We will do whatever we can do, actions big and small, to show our support as they defy Russian aggression and defend their homeland," said Michael Khoo, a co-director of the Justice Department's Task Force KleptoCapture.
Khoo said there is also a message for the Kremlin.
"We're not going away," Khoo said, briefing reporters. "We can play the long game as well.
"We fully intend to continue with these sorts of actions for as long as the Russian aggression continues in Ukraine and as long as they continue to take malign and malicious actions worldwide," he said.
Among those charged Thursday is Andrey Kostin, the CEO of Russia's state-owned VTB Bank.
U.S. Justice Department officials allege Kostin, who was previously sanctioned in 2018, tried to evade sanctions and launder money to support two super yachts valued at more than $135 million.
The 67-year-old Kostin is also charged with trying to evade sanctions in connection with a luxury home he owns in Aspen, Colorado.
Officials said Kostin's accomplices in the second scheme, 56-year-old Vadim Wolfson and 49-year-old Gannon Bond, were both arrested in the United States early Thursday. Wolfson is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. and lives in Austin, Texas. Bond is a U.S. citizen from New Jersey.
All three face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
In a separate case, the U.S. charged pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch Sergey Kurchenko with a multiyear scheme to evade sanctions and sell $330 million worth of metal products, including items produced in the Donbas region of Ukraine, to a U.S. company.
The Justice Department on Thursday also unveiled new charges of bank fraud against Vladislav Osipov, a 52-year-old Russia national living in Switzerland. He is accused of helping sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg operate a luxury yacht, which was later seized by U.S. officials.
In the final case, the Justice Department said 42-year-old Feliks Medvedev, a Russian citizen living in the U.S. state of Georgia, pleaded guilty to making more than 1,300 unlicensed financial transfers through shell companies to hide more than $150 million.
The Justice Department created Task Force Kleptocapture in March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to lead the fight against corrupt Russian oligarchs. In early 2023, it began focusing on those aiding or enabling Russia's oligarchs in their efforts to access Western markets and financial systems.
The task force brought charges against more than 70 people and several corporate entities over the past year.
In addition, the task force worked to restrain or seize about $700 million worth of assets.
Transferred funds to help Ukraine
Just last week, the U.S. Justice Department transferred almost $500,000 in forfeited Russian funds to Estonia, to be used to assist Ukraine. Additionally, the U.S. transferred another $5.4 million in forfeited Russian funds to Kyiv last year through the State Department.
That money "is not anywhere near sufficient to help Ukraine rebuild," said David Lim, Task Force KleptoCapture's co-director.
"What it, however, highlights is the department's commitment to finding all creative solutions to take forfeited assets to be transferred to Ukraine," he said. "We're working with Congress to expand that authority. ... But in the meantime, we're not just going to sit by. We're going to find new ways of getting forfeited funds to Ukraine."
Other senior U.S. officials expressed optimism that the task force's work is having an impact.
"Every little bit counts," a senior FBI official told reporters Thursday, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Justice Department.
"It will wear on Russia, and it has worn on Russia in ways that aren't always obvious," said the FBI official.
Even Russan oligarchs and facilitators who have not been arrested "are not going to be comfortable" no matter where they go outside of Russia, the official said.
"They know that we will have tentacles to be able to have the host country arrest them."