Vladimir Putin is going on a property hunt, ordering officials to find Russian assets that once belonged to its former empire or were owned by the Soviet Union.

An order from the Russian president published late Thursday allocated funding for a state unit to conduct searches for property abroad and ensure Russia’s ownership rights are registered. The document didn’t indicate the size of the budget for the operation or what kinds of property are being sought.

While it’s unclear what prompted the order, Putin’s interest in former imperial possessions is unlikely to ease concerns about his ambitions among neighboring states after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended European security.

At its peak, the Russian Empire extended into territories of modern Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Finland. It dissolved under the pressure of World War I and the 1917 Bolshevik revolution led by Vladimir Lenin that marked the birth of the Communist state.

Non-paywall link

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.worldEnglish
    106·
    2 years ago

    I’m reading between the lines: “Russia is broke”

    • Albbi@lemmy.caEnglish
      20·
      2 years ago

      Looking for change in the couch cushions old countries they used to own.

      • doctorcrimson@lemmy.todayEnglish
        2·
        2 years ago

        It’s pure fantasy fiction, but honestly how wild would it be if some mind-blowing Cold War Tech that was forgotten or abandoned got unearthed? Like a rocket with a hull so thick and boosters so big it could carry 500 tons into LEO, or maybe a big underground semi-functional fusion reactor attempt, or maybe even an analog supercomputer.

        Probably not, though. More realistically, he just wants to track down a bunch of old USSR weapons and vehicles before the dissenters do.

  • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.worldEnglish
    50·
    2 years ago

    While it’s unclear what prompted the order, Putin’s interest in former imperial possessions…

    “We consider all former nations of the USSR to be former imperial possessions. We will be taking them back.”

    • frezik@midwest.socialEnglish
      10·
      2 years ago

      A while back, some nut in the Duma said they should reclaim all former Russian territory, including Alaska. It would amuse me greatly to see them try.

      • Jaysyn@kbin.social
        8·
        2 years ago

        We wouldn’t even need to deploy the Army, the locals would curbstomp them back to Siberia.

          • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            2 years ago

            The US has no interest in colonies ever since that fiasco in the Philippines in the late 1800s

      • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        2 years ago

        That Duma official has forgotten that the local Alaskan population is armed for much more massive wildlife than a Russian conscript.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
    461·
    2 years ago

    Sorry Pootie, just because USSR owned it, doesn’t mean your shitty little gas station gets to claim it.

  • intelshill@lemmy.caEnglish
    5513·
    2 years ago

    And yet the mods remove posts about the Polish and Estonia PMs warning about future Russian aggression… Interesting.

    Some might even say… Propaganda.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      331·
      2 years ago

      I removed them because the same story was posted half a dozen times back to back to back. “Putin to attack Nato in 3-5/5-8 years.”

      The original story was kept, the others removed as duplicates.

  • Nobody@lemmy.worldEnglish
    361·
    2 years ago

    The Russian mob needs foreign property to borrow against. That’s how they operate. The money machine is having some problems with sanctions, and storage is constantly being depleted.

  • deegeese@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    361·
    2 years ago

    It makes sense as the Russian military does a terrible job keeping track of their assets. They left an entire missile cruiser at the bottom of the Black Sea.

  • PugJesus@kbin.social
    31·
    2 years ago

    Casus Belli: Artifact Claim War on NATO

    NATO: “Your low character is the subject of Greek plays. May your humors rot in your living body. We accept your surrender.”

  • paddirn@lemmy.worldEnglish
    28·
    2 years ago

    He’s probably going to start claiming Alaska as Russian property.

    • Jaysyn@kbin.social
      171·
      2 years ago

      And we’ll back the Swede’s bid for St. Petersberg & Moscow.

      • tyrant@lemmy.worldEnglish
        91·
        2 years ago

        Based on this comment and your user name it seems like you have a lot of hills you’re ready to die on

      • frezik@midwest.socialEnglish
        5·
        2 years ago

        Don’t even bother sending the Army to defend it. The locals are armed to the teeth, and the terrain is mountainous–perfect for guerrilla warfare. Let the first wave of landings go uncontested, then have the Navy pick off all the reinforcements and supply boats.

  • theodewere@kbin.social
    201·
    2 years ago

    he already has a bunch of Republicans convinced that giving back Alaska is not only a good idea but the right thing to do

  • Chocrates@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18·
    2 years ago

    I don’t get it, what are they looking for? Do they want all the faberge eggs?

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      2 years ago

      “You are to return the nesting doll by order of Vladimir Putin!”

  • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    2 years ago

    He’s mad that there’s a move afoot to sell seized Russian assets and use the proceeds to fund Ukraine’s defense. The signal is: if you buy these things (yachts, real estate, whatever) Russia will see to it as a matter of official policy that you will fall carelessly out of a high window somewhere. The quiet part said out loud, tho, is that Russia now claims that anything it ever held, whether as the USSR or imperial Russia, or the current Russian Federation, is theirs forever no takebacks.

    Basically the read on this should be: Russia is having trouble laundering rubles into non-sanctioned currencies (those foreign assets are basically conduits to do that) and is now saying essentially that if they can’t keep our offshore loot they’ll just seize all of Eastern Europe and demand tribute from their vassal territories

    …of course, if Russia could actually do any of that it already would have

  • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
    7·
    2 years ago

    Putin finds a new way to be horrible. He labeled it something new, but it’s still the same old shit.