The Russian authorities in annexed Crimea said Thursday they are considering nationalizing Ukrainian-owned property on the peninsula, including an $800,000 apartment owned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A commission is currently compiling a list of properties owned by “unfriendly” foreign individuals and states that could be subject to nationalization, Vladimir Konstantinov, the head of Crimea’s parliament, told Russian state media.
This list includes a Yalta apartment purchased by Zelensky’s wife Olena Zelenska in 2013, he said.
Russian lawmakers started drafting laws that would allow the seizure of Ukrainian-owned assets this summer. Officials in Moscow previously vowed to respect property rights that had been in place before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
President Vladimir Putin has denounced the confiscation of assets belonging to sanctioned Russians in Europe and the United States following the invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky has repeatedly vowed to return Crimea to Ukrainian control since the start of Russia’s invasion in February.
