After Russian president Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Western nations retaliated with massive sanctions on the Russian economy and financial system, expanding on earlier sanctions dating back as far as 2014 and the Crimea annexation.
Hundreds of Russian billionaires faced even tougher sanctions. But after some much-publicised seizures of yachts and London villas, efforts to identify and freeze assets held by Putin's inner circle have become bogged down in the labyrinth...
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Wester is a journalist from the Netherlands with a focus on the green economy. He joined EUobserver in September 2021. Previously he was editor-in-chief of Vice, Motherboard, a science-based website, and climate economy journalist for The Correspondent.