Russia-installed authorities in illegally annexed Sevastopol have begun confiscating property based in part on owners’ family ties to Ukraine. A new list of property earmarked for seizure includes assets linked to the wife of a Ukrainian judge, a company whose director’s son serves in Ukraine’s armed forces, and a businessman whose father was described by authorities as a former Ukrainian serviceman. In another case, occupation authorities publicly cited only the owner’s Ukrainian citizenship as grounds for confiscation.
The Russia-installed government of Sevastopol adopted a resolution on Sept. 15 transferring such property to the city treasury. The list includes six companies and five individuals whose assets were taken. Russia-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said the cases were reviewed by a working group of the local Anti-Terrorism Commission together with Russia’s financial monitoring agency Rosfinmonitoring, the FSB, and other government bodies.
The authorities claim that everyone on the list either helped Ukraine’s armed forces or acted “to the detriment of Russia’s security.”
However, Razvozhayev’s own explanations justifying the confiscations show that the grounds vary widely, from alleged transfers of information about Russian military personnel to simply having relatives in Ukraine.
The most striking case involves 56-year-old Olena Vasylenko. Razvozhayev said she is the wife of a judge on the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal in Kyiv and that apartments in one of Sevastopol’s apartment buildings are registered in her name. The official did not state any other accusations against Vasylenko and did not allege that she had transferred money to Ukraine’s armed forces, nor that she cooperated with Ukrainian intelligence services or passed any information to Ukraine. There have been no reports of a criminal case against her.
Nevertheless, Vasylenko’s real estate was transferred to the city treasury alongside the property of people whom the Russian security services accuse of treason.
A relative serving in Ukraine’s armed forces was also cited to justify the seizure of property belonging to Rifer LLC. Since 2015, the company has been headed by a man identified as A.B. Authorities said he holds an “anti-Russian position” but did not explain what that meant.
They did, however, specifically note that Gerashchenko’s son serves in Ukraine’s armed forces. Razvozhayev did not say that Gerashchenko himself or his company had transferred money to the Ukrainian military or provided it with other assistance.
A local businessman with a father in Kyiv
The Russian authorities linked three other companies — KETZ Saturn, Atlantis-LTD, and Rosttrade — to Sevastopol businessman Viktor Rozhmanov. Officials also made accusations against Rozhmanov personally, with the Russian Anti-Terrorism Commission saying he belongs to “pro-Ukrainian groups,” spreads information supporting Ukraine’s armed forces, and posts content that Russian authorities consider to be “discrediting” to the Russian military. The authorities did not cite any specific posts.
Another allegation concerned Rozhmanov’s relationship with his father. Russia-appointed Sevastopol governor Razvozhayev said the businessman’s father is a former member of Ukraine’s armed forces who lives in Kyiv. Through him, Rozhmanov allegedly “maintains contacts with representatives of the Ukrainian regime.”
The Insider found no previous reports accusing Rozhmanov of supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine or of having ties to Ukrainian authorities. Those purported connections became public only when the decision to seize his assets was announced.
The Rozhmanov family’s connection to Kyiv, however, can be traced through older Russian court records. Arbitration cases involving Saturn and Atlantis mention the businessman’s father, Vitaly Gennadievich Rozhmanov. One document says that a 2018 power of attorney listed his registered residence as Kyiv.
Still, The Insider found no open-source confirmation that the elder Rozhmanov served in Ukraine’s armed forces nor that his son communicated with Ukrainian authorities through him.
Viktor Rozhmanov himself had long been part of Sevastopol’s Russian business establishment. The website of the Sevastopol Entrepreneurs Council lists him as a board member and director of Atlantis-LTD. He also heads the council’s committee on small and medium-sized business and the development of youth entrepreneurship.
Authorities also cited a family connection to a Ukrainian intelligence officer in the case of 72-year-old Viktor Piskunov. Russian officials say his son-in-law works for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, HUR.In this case, however, the accusations go beyond the family relationship. Authorities allege that Piskunov regularly sent his son-in-law money earned from renting out an apartment, and a criminal case has been opened against him under a statute on the illegal trafficking of explosives. Governor Razvozhayev did not explain why the alleged money transfers to a relative were connected to that charge.
Authorities disclosed even less about Andrei Krivobokov, born in 1972. In his general description, Razvozhayev included Krivobokov among those who allegedly helped Ukrainian armed formations or acted “to the detriment of Russia’s security.” However, when discussing Krivobokov specifically, the governor said only that he is a Ukrainian citizen. Authorities did not publicly say what actions led to the confiscation of his property, and there was no mention of a criminal case against him.
Not everyone on the latest list had property seized because of relatives or formal connections to Ukraine. The same resolution includes the names of Yevhen and Svitlana Kharchenko, a married couple facing much more serious accusations from the Russian security services. According to the FSB, the couple began cooperating with Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) in February 2024 and passed it information about the locations of Black Sea Fleet ships, as well as routes used by Russian troops and military equipment. The Russian authorities say the information could have been used to prepare missile strikes and acts of sabotage.
The Kharchenkos face a criminal case on treason charges, meaning the property of people accused of directly working for Ukrainian intelligence was placed on the same list as apartments belonging to a woman whose husband is a judge in Kyiv.
Among the companies whose property was seized Sept. 15 was the Sevastopol instrument-making plant Parus. The Russia-installed officials claim the company is controlled by people in Cyprus, France, and Luxembourg, and that its main beneficiary is a man identified as A.A. Dreyev. The Anti-Terrorism Commission alleges that the plant is linked to Ukrainian foundations that finance the country’s military. Authorities did not name the foundations or provide details of any money transfers.
Another company, TBI LLC, is effectively owned by Ukrainian citizen G.K. Lutsai, founder of Kyiv-based Interrybflot, according to the commission. Authorities say Lutsai publicly stated that “Interrybflot helps the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Property seized without a court conviction
Confiscations of this kind do not require Russian authorities to obtain a criminal conviction against the property owner. Instead, they use a special mechanism introduced after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
The framework is based on Sevastopol government Resolution No. 123-PP, adopted Feb. 28, 2015. The document was originally titled “On Certain Issues of Property Nationalization.” In 2024, it was renamed “On Issues of Managing the Property of the City of Sevastopol” and amended to include provisions on “terrorism prevention.”
The process works as follows: security agencies and other government bodies collect information, the Anti-Terrorism Commission reviews it, and the Sevastopol government then issues a resolution placing the property into the city treasury. There is no requirement to wait for a court to find the owner guilty of a crime.
In the current list, criminal cases are mentioned only for some of those affected. Razvozhayev did not report the existence of such cases against Vasilenko, Krivobokov, Rozhmanov, or Gerashchenko.
Earlier seizures focused mainly on financing Ukraine
Sevastopol has used the mechanism for several years, but authorities previously justified the largest confiscations primarily by alleging financial support for Ukraine or direct ties between owners and Ukrainian institutions.
For example, in October 2024, the city seized Sevastopolgaz PJSC. Razvozhayev said at the time that the company’s profits had been routed through a chain of front people to Ukrainian businessmen who financed Ukraine’s armed forces.
In March 2025, authorities seized seven businesses and property belonging to 13 people connected to the Kozlovsky-Miroshnikov family. The assets included the Mayak marine lighting plant and the companies Plosk, Tinos, Tekhnotron, and Technical Operations Center No. 1. Authorities said the owners were connected to a Polish foundation and had transferred large sums to support Ukraine’s armed forces. Some of those companies had previously benefited from tax and other incentives under Russia’s Sevastopol free economic zone before they were nationalized.
The city also took control of glamping sites at Fiolent that had previously received a construction grant. After the seizure, they were transferred to the state-owned company Sevastopol Boarding Houses.
In December 2025, authorities seized Sevastopol’s largest local internet provider, Sevstar, along with affiliated companies Lancom, Sevtelecomservice, Freenet Crimea, Digital Innovations, and Spetstekhservice. The city also took ownership of the Glechik restaurant and property belonging to people connected to those companies. In those instances, Razvozhayev again cited alleged financing of Ukraine and links to Ukrainian intelligence services.
