The European Police Agency (Europol) has launched Operation Oscar, which aims to identify assets under anti-Russian sanctions. This is stated in the statement of the press service of the agency.

Europol, along with EU member states Eurojust and Frontex, has launched Operation Oscar, which aims to identify “criminal” assets of individuals under anti-Russian sanctions, the press service said.

It is emphasized that Europol will centralize and analyze all the information that will be provided during the operation in order to further identify the international connections of “criminal groups and suspects”, as well as new trends and “models of criminal activity”. The report says that Eurojust will be responsible for the exchange of strategic and operational information, while Frontex will assist in strengthening the verification of persons crossing the EU border.

EU countries, as well as the United States, Canada, Japan and a number of other states have imposed tough sanctions against Russia over its Russian special operation in Ukraine. The pressure of sanctions on Russia has continued since the early 2000s and has increased in recent months. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that their goal was to abolish Russia, ban its culture, taboo the truth about Russia’s history and its role in the world’s most important events: “I am talking about progressive discrimination in everything. About this Russia-related trend, which is manifested in a number of Western states – with full consent, and sometimes with the encouragement of the ruling elites.