Putin Seeks to Reclaim Lost Russian Assets Abroad, Stoking Imperial Ambitions Fears
• Putin orders officials to find Russian assets abroad that once belonged to the Russian Empire or Soviet Union • Funding allocated for a state unit to conduct searches for property abroad and ensure Russia's ownership rights • Unclear what prompted the order, but fuels concerns about Putin's ambitions after Ukraine invasion • At its peak, Russian Empire included modern Poland, Baltics, Finland - dissolved after 1917 revolution • Soviet Union covered much of same territory until its collapse in 1991 as republics became independent