The total value of frozen private assets tied to the Ukraine war in Germany has fallen sharply. In 2025 it was about €2.9 billion, compared with just under €3.3 billion in 2024. In 2023 the amount of frozen Russian assets in Germany reached almost €4.4 billion. These figures come from a letter by the Green party’s parliamentary spokesperson for interior affairs, Marcel Emmerich, to the Federal Ministry of Finance, which the FAZ reported on its Monday issue.
The basis for the freezes is an EU regulation adopted in 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. It allows sanctions to be imposed on individuals who are responsible for actions threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, or independence of Ukraine. The regulation has been revised repeatedly to incorporate sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with the latest update coming in December 2025. Before the war and the broadening of sanctions, the total value of frozen Russian assets was only about €342,000; it surged dramatically in 2022.
The German finance ministry offers two explanations for the current decline. First, asset values are subject to market‑valuation fluctuations. More decisively, people are being removed from the sanctions list after successfully challenging their inclusion. EU court rulings over recent years have suggested that the justification for listing some individuals was complex, especially regarding whether they truly supported actions that undermined Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
In its response, the ministry stated that “strengthening sanctions enforcement remains a central concern for the government”. It is conducting a review of the 2022 sanctions‑enforcement laws I and II, and is assessing whether the legislation needs amendment to be more effective.
Emmerich told the FAZ that sanctions on Russian assets in Germany are a key economic pressure tool. “If the frozen assets are now falling, it is not a trivial matter but a warning signal” he said. He questioned whether the government has become lax in enforcing sanctions and called for a firmer implementation of the rules and tougher action against sanctions evasion.