The group, including former prime ministers, business, union and military leaders, wants Australia to divert the billions it has confiscated since the invasion of Ukraine.
Billions of dollars in Russian assets frozen by Australian authorities should be confiscated and put towards financial support for Ukraine, a group of prominent Australians say, as they urge the federal government to join other allies of Kyiv to boost aid for the war-torn nation.
Amid growing criticism of Australia’s lack of military and humanitarian aid, the Supporters of Ukraine Network has asked the government to join other nations in developing legal options for the use of sovereign Russian assets for the nation’s recovery and reconstruction and to update its own laws to ensure that Russian assets can be utilised.
Sanctions imposed by much of the West since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 are estimated to have frozen about $US300 billion of Bank of Russia foreign exchange reserves in G7 countries, the EU and Australia. It is estimated that two-thirds of these assets are located in EU countries, and held mostly in cash.
A Ukrainian serviceman prays in a church damaged in the Russian air raid in the town of Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine.“We would very much welcome Australia’s participation in those processes as it’s just and practical for an aggressor to pay for the immense damage they have done to an innocent nation.”
In addition to sovereign assets, more than 40 Russian oligarchs have been sanctioned by the Australian government since the invasion began, with an estimated $9 billion in cash and assets frozen by wealthy businessmen viewed as allies of Putin. That is more than nine times the amount that has been pledged by the federal government for military and humanitarian aid.
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