A group of Ukrainian businesses is asking a federal court in the United States to require Russia to pay a nearly $35 million international judgement, in the hopes of eventually gaining access to some of the country’s assets in the US.

In a petition filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, the 11 companies claimed that they owned gas stations and an office in Crimea that were taken by Russia in 2014. According to court documents, Swiss arbitrators awarded them $34.5 million in 2019.

James Boykin, a lawyer for the companies, said the freezing of Russian assets as part of recent US sanctions could provide his clients an opportunity to collect.

“If funds do get made available to people who suffered from Russian aggression, I don’t see why Crimea and people who lost out following the annexation would be excluded,” he said.

According to the lawsuit, Russian police seized and plundered petrol stations held by the companies because petitioner Sabil’s part owner, Ukrainian oligarch and former government official Igor Kolomoisky, was a Kremlin critic. The United States sanctioned Kolomoisky in 2021 for alleged corruption.

Russia did not take part in the arbitration but appealed the decision to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which dismissed Russia’s appeal.

U.S. courts can execute foreign arbitration verdicts thanks to an international convention and US law. Yukos Capital, a subsidiary of Yukos Oil, which was expropriated by Russia nearly two decades ago, filed its own court case in Washington, D.C. this month to enforce a $5 billion arbitration award against Russia.

In that case, a lawyer representing Yukos Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and no lawyer for Russia has appeared.

Neither petition mentions the continuing deadly war in Ukraine, which Russia has defined as a special military operation to de-Nazify the country.

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