WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department is launching a special unit to enforce sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs, targeting their yachts and other assets.


The U.S. has already joined the European Union and other allies in targeting ‘Russian elites and their family members’ with sanctions including freezing assets.


Now, as Rolling Stone reports billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s yacht was seized by German authorities Wednesday, it is launching its KleptoCapture task force to enforce its sanctions.


Anger against those seen as playing a part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been widespread even outside of state actors, with a Ukrainian sailor arrested Saturday in Spain after admitting to trying to sink a yacht owned by the head of a Russian state arms firm, stating it was retaliation for the invasion.


Responding to the change in mood, at least five Russian-owned superyachts were in the Maldives on Wednesday, which does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S., according to Reuters.