President Biden announced during the State of the Union on Tuesday night that the Department of Justice is working with European allies to find and seize the "yachts," "luxury apartments," and "private jets" of Russian oligarchs, declaring, "We're coming for your ill-begotten gains."
Biden said the United States is going after those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including "Russian oligarchs and the corrupt leaders who built billions of dollars off this violent regime." He also said American airspace will be closed to all Russian flights, "further isolating Russia." Biden added that Putin "has no idea what's coming."
Biden began his State of the Union address with the topic on almost everyone's mind: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "We shared with the world in advance what we knew Putin was planning and precisely how he would try to falsify and justify his aggression," Biden said. "We countered Russia's lies with the truth, and now that he's acted, the free world is holding him accountable, along with 27 members of the European Union, including France, Germany, Italy, as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and many others."
The president received a round of applause when he said Putin is "now isolated from the world more than he has ever been," and touted the U.S. and its allies for enforcing "powerful economic sanctions" against Russia, including "cutting off Russia's largest banks and international financial system" and "preventing Russia's central bank from defending the Russian ruble, making Putin's $360 billion war fund worthless." Additionally, the coalition is "choking Russia's access to technology," which will "sap its economic strength and weaken its military for years to come."