Russia begins process to seize property of exiled journalist Yury Dud PHOTO/ VIDEO

Russian authorities have begun proceedings to confiscate property belonging to journalist and blogger Yury Dud in favour of the state. 

The first property targeted is a 78.5-square-metre three-room apartment in Moscow’s Yuzhnoye Butovo district, reportedly worth about 26 million roubles ($320,000). Dud, a prominent Russian journalist and YouTube interviewer, has owned the apartment since 2012, Caliber.Az reports per Russia’s SHOT Telegram channel.

A temporary restriction on transactions involving the apartment was imposed in April 2026 over unpaid fines. The report said Dud is now prohibited from disposing of the property or living in it. The current measures are described as interim, with court proceedings and possible confiscation expected to follow.

Dud also owns a 250-square-metre house on a 12-sotok plot of land in the Sinegria gated community in New Moscow, which SHOT estimates is worth about 75 million roubles ($886,794). The journalist reportedly transferred ownership of the property to his wife, Olga Dud, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The court could potentially challenge that transaction.

SHOT cited several grounds for the potential seizure, including allegations that Dud discredited the Russian army, failed to fulfil obligations associated with his designation as a “foreign agent”, and had an unpaid debt of 180,000 roubles ($2,128). It also noted his designation by Russian authorities as a “terrorist and extremist.”

Dud has been living outside Russia and is known for his interviews with prominent Russian and international figures. Russian authorities designated him a “foreign agent” and later added him to the country’s list of “terrorists and extremists.”

SHOT also cited a 2024 case involving the property of the family of journalist Alexander Nevzorov, saying it was the first case in which property linked to relatives of a “foreign agent” was confiscated following a court ruling that invalidated a transaction.

By Sabina Mammadli