Russia's financial assets could soon be used to fund Ukraine's defense

German Federal Prosecutor intends to seize 720 million euros ($787 million) in Russian funds that remain frozen in German bank accounts following the military offense in Ukraine, amid a debate about how to redirect confiscated assets from Moscow to Kyiv.

Frank has applied to Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court to confiscate the money belonging to the Moscow Stock Exchange subsidiary National Settlement Depository (NSD), as Newsweek reported, funds that were sanctioned by the EU back in June 2022.

So far Berlin has only frozen the funds and assets of sanctioned Russian individuals and companies that remain owners of the assets if they cannot dispose of them. The German Spiegel publication described Frank's move as representing "a new dimension in the enforcement of international sanctions against Russia".

The money had been deposited in the German branch of the American banking giant JPMorgan. The Russian subsidiary had tried to transfer the funds, which sources told the paper could be an attempt to circumvent sanctions and, therefore, a crime. Should these funds get confiscated, they would be redirected into Germany's federal budget and would mark a change in Berlin's position toward Russian assets that are under its control.