Within days of Russia having launched its full-scale aggression against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the EU included in its third package of sanctions the prohibition of any transaction related to the management of reserves and assets of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), thus immobilising (‘freezing’) approximately €210 billion worth of assets held under EU Member States’ jurisdictions. The non-EU G7 countries (the US, the UK, Canada and Japan), together with Australia and Switzerland, adopted similar measures.