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Russia's 22 wealthiest billionaires have lost a total of $83 billion this year, after being targeted by major economic sanctions following their country's invasion of Ukraine.
New figures show that the majority of the losses have occurred over the past week, since the EU, the US, the UK and other countries moved to effectively cut off the access of Russian banks and oligarchs from accessing the west's finance systems.
The 22 billionaires are among the world's 500 wealthiest individuals, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
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Among those effected are Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Russian president Vladimir Putin, whose net worth has halved in 2022, and major Novatek shareholder Leonid Mikhelson, who has lost $10.2 billion so far this year.
Measures taken by Ukraine's western allies include freezing the assets of a number of pro-Putin oligarchs, as well as banning them from travelling to many countries outside of Russia.
In an unprecedented move over the weekend European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen confirmed all Russian aircraft, including the private jets of oligarchs, would be banned from EU airspace, while countries such as France have also threatened to seize assets including homes, cars and yachts.
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The oligarch to see the biggest drops in his net worth as a result of the sanctions was oil tycoon Vagit Alekperov, whose asset value has fallen by $13 billion in the first two months of 2022 alone.
While Russia has suspended trading on the Moscow Stock Exchange for the past three days in a row, oligarch-owned companies trading on international floors have seen catastrophic losses, including Alekperov, whose company Lukoil PJSC fell 62.8% on the London Stock Exchange on Monday, February 28.
Perhaps the most prominent Russian oligarch - Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich - has lost about $5 billion this year according to Bloomberg, and has moved to protect his key asset by announcing he would be handing control of his football club to its charitable foundation, despite having not yet been sanctioned by the UK.
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Experts have pointed out that while the losses suffered by Russian oligarchs may appear extreme, it is ordinary Russian citizens who will suffer the most from sanctions enacted following Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.
Putin blamed 'unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere' as he moved to place his country's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert.
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Topics: Russia, Ukraine, World News, Vladimir Putin
Hannah Smith