Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed an order to create a new state unit tasked with tracking down assets abroad that once belonged to the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. According to experts, this move reflects Putin’s longstanding desire to reassert Russia’s historic power and rebuild its former sphere of influence.
The decree, issued on January 18th, 2024, did not specify the budget or particular assets being sought. But it is the latest sign that Putin aims to recapture lost territory from the empire’s zenith, which stretched from Poland to the Baltics, and the Soviet era, which extended Moscow’s reach across Eastern Europe.
This fits with Putin’s ethno-nationalist rhetoric portraying Russia as a great power unfairly shorn of its former glory,” said Dr. Natalia Popova, a historian at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He wants to restore the prestige and influence Russia wielded for centuries over its neighbors.
Putin’s Imperial Ambitions
Since becoming president in 2000, Putin has repeatedly emphasized the need to reverse the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century – the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
He famously described Russians and Ukrainians as “one people” and declared the collapse of the USSR left some 25 million ethnic Russians stranded outside the new Russian Federation. This fueled fears that Ukraine, with its strategically important coastline, industries, and 8 million Russians, could be Putin’s first target for rebuilding the empire.
Those fears proved prescient when Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, justifying the unprovoked invasion as necessary to protect ethnic Russians and bring historically “Russian” lands back into the fold.
Ukraine was the crown jewel of the Soviet Union, after Russia itself,” said Dr. Popova. Reabsorbing it is tremendously important to Putin’s image of Russia as a superpower.
The war has strengthened NATO’s eastern flank, with allies rushing to defend nervous neighbors like Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia from potential Russian aggression. But so far, Putin has remained fixated on Ukraine. His army continues grinding to capture more territory there despite heavy losses.
The Risks of Overreach
Critics say Putin’s imperial ambitions carry great risks, both for the countries caught in Russia’s crosshairs and for Russia itself.
His attempt to rebuild the USSR or tsarist empire by force threatens the post-Cold War norms of national sovereignty, potentially plunging Europe into a spiral of conflict. It also stretches Russian military and economic resources at a time of declining population and productivity.
The Putin regime is dangerously overestimating Russia’s capacity to subjugate foreign populations that don’t want to be governed from Moscow,” said Ilya Yashin, an opposition activist and Moscow municipal deputy.
Yashin believes focusing resources on restoring outdated borders and spheres of influence will undermine the real needs of Russia’s citizens.
“Putin’s adventurism abroad diverts attention and money from critical problems at home,” he said, citing high inflation, a shrinking workforce, and underinvestment in technologies crucial to modern development.
Hunting for Lost Assets
While Russians debate the wisdom of Putin’s imperial project, his new government unit is tasked with recovering state assets that were lost when the empire fell.
Some property of the Russian Empire was appropriated by governments of newly independent nations or fell into private hands during the chaos of World War I and the revolutions of 1917.
Symbols of Tsarist glory like palaces in Warsaw and Vilnius changed hands multiple times as borders shifted. Meanwhile, artifacts of Russia’s cultural heritage like religious icons and imperial records were scattered across Europe.
When the Soviet Union collapsed decades later, nationally owned infrastructure and resources within its borders were divided between the 15 new independent states. State companies were sold off and industries privatized during Russia’s transition to capitalism.
The Kremlin suggests this redistribution was unfair, demanding more compensation for Soviet investments in other republics. But most lost assets have now been abroad so long that other nations consider them their own.
“After 30 years, there’s not much low-hanging fruit left for Russia to grab,” said Ivan Petrov, an economic historian in St. Petersburg. “Private and state owners have solid legal rights through decades of possession.
According to Petrov, monetizing Soviet infrastructure like pipelines outside Russia today would require long legal battles or use of force. Neither offers a quick payoff compared to developing Russia’s own economy.
“Wasting effort on irredentist asset seizures just prolongs the nation’s stagnation,” he said. “It’s the road to poverty.”
Petrov believes a truly great Russia doesn’t need to recreate 20th-century borders. It can flourish through technological innovation, shared prosperity, and serving as a bridge between Europe and Asia.
“Putin’s vision is backwards looking,” he said. “Dwelling on past losses is less constructive than building the country Russians deserve today.”
Nuclear Saber Rattling
Meanwhile, Putin’s decree came alongside aggressive nuclear saber rattling by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He declared no further arms control talks possible with Washington given its support for Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Lavrov also denied any link between Ukraine’s strikes on Russian military sites and Putin’s public threats to defend Russian territory with nuclear weapons. Experts called this message contradictory and dangerous.
By severing communications, Lavrov seemed to rebuke the Biden administration’s offer to restart nuclear arms negotiations suspended when Russia invaded Ukraine last year. The two powers share responsibility for over 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.
With tensions high, experts said abandoning arms control talks removes one of the last guardrails preventing escalation of the conflict. They warned of a renewed nuclear arms race as dangerous as that of the Cold War.
“This defiant isolationism increases the risk of nuclear brinksmanship,” said Elena Chernenko, an arms control specialist at Moscow’s Center for Energy and Security Studies. “And that benefits no one, not even Russia.”
