US gets warrant to seize Boeing 737 owned by Russia’s Lukoil

The US government is seeking to seize a Boeing 737 aircraft owned by Russian oil company Lukoil PJSC for allegedly violating sanctions imposed on Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine.

The Justice Department announced Wednesday it had obtained a warrant to seize the aircraft, which is valued at $45 million and bears the tail number VP-CLR. The aircraft “flew into and out of Russia in violation of the Department of Commerce’s sanctions against Russia,” the US government said.

According to the Justice Department, the jet last entered the US in March 2019 when it carried Lukoil executives, including an unidentified Russian oligarch, to Houston. The company didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Vagit Alekperov, who has an estimated net worth of $19.4 billion, resigned as Lukoil’s chief executive officer in April after being hit by Western sanctions. More recently, billionaire Leonid Fedun stepped down as the company’s vice president of strategy.

The US and its allies have been seizing luxury assets owned by wealthy Russians and corporations since the invasion of Ukraine. In June, a $325 million superyacht that’s tied to Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov and which was seized by US authorities in Fiji sailed into a port in Southern California.