EU Freezes $13 Billion for Russian Oligarchs

European Commission spokesperson Christian Wiegand said on Monday that the EU sanctions against members of the Russian oligarchs have frozen at about 12.5 billion euros ($13 billion).

He added, confirming a report of the German newspaper "Die Welt", that the updated figure nearly doubled from 6.7 billion euros in April, which contains luxury yachts, real estate, helicopters, and artifacts.

The figure does not include the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank.

Sources from the European Commission said that the reason for the increase was mainly a slight increase in the assets that were earmarked and frozen in the past weeks, especially in Germany.

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the European Union has adopted rounds of sanctions, targeting the economy, financial system, central ban, and top government officials in Russia, as well as President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle.