A senior Russian official has threatened that Moscow will seize more Ukrainian territory and target British property, after London confirmed it had spent over £1 billion from frozen Russian assets on weapons for Ukraine.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the funding had enabled the purchase of “hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition, hundreds of air defence missiles, spare parts, and new support contracts to help maintain and repair [Ukraine’s] equipment and vehicles”.
British Defence Minister John Healey said that this military support for Ukraine had been paid for by the frozen assets.
“Given that the money cannot be recovered in court for obvious reasons, our country has only one way to return the valuables: return it in kind,” former president Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram.
That is ‘Ukrainian land’ and other immovable and movable property located on it.”
Mr Medvedev also suggested Russia would respond to “any illegal seizure of frozen Russian funds or profits” by seizing the “valuables of the British Crown”, including British property within Russia.
Some £25 billion worth of Russian assets have been frozen by the UK Government since the start of the Ukraine war.
A report released by the Treasury in March revealed the total, which accounts for all assets that have been sanctioned by the UK since February 2022 when the invasion of Ukraine began.
Some 2,001 individuals and entities have been sanctioned under the regime as of March 2024, according to the Treasury.
It said that sanctions imposed by the UK and its allies have significantly impacted Russia’s economy, depriving it of over £297 billion since February 2022, equivalent to four years of Russia’s military spending.
As a result of UK sanctions, Russia’s military has been forced to turn to rogue states like North Korea and Iran for critical supplies, the Treasury said.
