A guide to the grand mansions and estates of sanctioned Russian billionaires

Russian oligarchs trying to hide their "illegally acquired income" from sanctions may try to evade prosecution in their superyachts or private jets, but good luck selling a $190 million villa on the French Riviera.

On March 3, the U.S. and Britain stepped up pressure on Russian billionaires linked to Vladimir Putin, simultaneously announcing an asset freeze and travel ban for investor Alisher Usmanov. The 68-year-old metals tycoon had already been sanctioned by the European Union three days earlier. That makes him one of 50 Russian billionaires who have been sanctioned by the EU, US, UK, Switzerland, Canada or Japan since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014; 24 of them were affected for the first time in the last month after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

Usmanov's two most valuable properties - the 16th-century Sutton Place estate in Sarray and the Beechwood House mansion in London - are in England. According to a British government statement released in connection with the sanctions, both properties have been frozen and no "British citizen or business" can deal with Usmanov.

According to Forbes estimates, Usmanov is not the only sanctioned Russian billionaire with large property investments outside of Russia. Nor is he the only one with homes in Western capitals. According to Forbes, 30 sanctioned Russian oligarchs have at least 156 properties, which together are worth $5.6 billion.

While asset freezes and travel bans may prevent these oligarchs from visiting their overseas homes, this does not mean that they will immediately lose control over them. This is due, in part, to the fact that it is not always easy to tie them to a property.

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According to Alexei Felman, an analyst at Sayari Labs who specializes in Eurasia and Russia, a common way to circumvent sanctions is to transfer real estate to a relative or close partner. "Despite attempts to seize assets, this will be difficult," says Felman. "Legally, they are often not the owners of the real estate. Often it will be an offshore structure."

However, the U.S. and its allies in Europe have recently announced that they will step up the pursuit of sanctions and seize any assets owned by sanctioned individuals. On March 2, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the creation of a new task force called KleptoKapcha, which will target Russian oligarchs and use asset forfeiture to seize the assets of sanctioned individuals. This includes using "advanced investigative techniques" such as data analytics, cryptocurrency tracking, information from foreign intelligence sources, and information from financial regulators to identify any sanctions evasion.