Today, the biggest news comes from Ukraine.Here, Kyiv has secured over 6 billion dollars in arbitration awards against Russia and Gazprom, an unprecedented legal victory that could see Russian oil and gas money rerouted directly to the Ukrainian state. This outcome does not just reaffirm international law; it essentially gives Ukraine billions of dollars from the Russian pocket to spend on the war against Russia.President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine has now won 5 billion in arbitration rulings tied to Russia’s illegal seizure of energy infrastructure in Crimea. The funds are owed to Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state energy company, and the rulings are enforceable in courts across multiple jurisdictions across the Western Hemisphere. The legal basis for the award stems from Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, when Moscow seized control of gas pipelines, storage facilities, and other Naftogaz infrastructure across the peninsula. Rather than compensate the company or negotiate terms, Russian authorities moved to fully nationalize those assets. Ukraine responded with a series of claims under international investment agreements, arguing that the expropriation violated binding treaty protections. Arbitration panels agreed, and after years of proceedings, issued rulings assigning direct monetary liability to the Russian state and its state-owned entities. In practical terms, this means Russian revenues, especially those linked to Gazprom or state-controlled energy holdings abroad, could be frozen and redirected. The case is now a landmark for state versus state legal battles and may encourage other Ukrainian firms to pursue similar claims. Zelensky framed the outcome as clear proof of accountability and the power of international law, and emphasized that Ukrainian diplomats would begin executing the next steps for recovery immediately.Whether Ukraine receives the funds now depends on enforcement, because Russia is not expected to pay voluntarily. Instead, Ukraine will move to seize Russian assets abroad under legal mechanisms already recognized by courts in Europe, North America, and beyond. This could include freezing bank accounts, confiscating real estate, intercepting revenue streams, or taking control of Gazprom subsidiaries. The legal path resembles the strategy used, mirroring past cases where courts allowed Russian state assets to be seized abroad after legal defeats. But Ukraine now has a crucial advantage: growing international momentum to make Russia pay for its actions, which gives Kyiv more leverage in pushing through asset seizure without political resistance.This is also not Ukraine’s first such win, because just last month, Naftogaz prevailed in another arbitration case against Gazprom, centered on a broken transit deal worth 1.37 billion dollars. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Gazprom halted all payments that covered Russian gas transiting through Ukraine, betting on a swift Russian victory and hoping that meant they wouldn’t have to pay. With this reasoning, Gazprom chose to violate the terms of a multi-billion-dollar contract with Ukraine and its state-owned energy company, assuming no one would hold them accountable. But that gamble failed, as Ukraine’s legal institutions, particularly those tied to Naftogaz, have proven unexpectedly resilient and aggressive. To understand the scale of this victory, it is worth comparing the total over 6 billion dollars in arbitration awards to the actual military aid Ukraine receives. Britain’s military support for Ukraine this year totals about 3.2 billion dollars, while Germany’s is just under 6 billion dollars. These are crucial lifelines, but what makes the arbitration rulings remarkable is that they match or exceed this level of support, and they do so using Russia’s own money. In effect, Ukraine has just secured the financial equivalent of a top-tier European aid package directly from Russia, and unlike peace negotiations, these arbitration awards are active, internationally enforceable, and concrete.Overall, Ukraine’s legal victories mark a strategic shift in how the war’s economic front is being fought, because rather than rely solely on Western sanctions or goodwill, Kyiv is turning to arbitration and treaty law to make Russia pay, literally, for its aggression. If enforcement proceeds successfully, Russia could face a steady drain of assets over the coming years. Not through sanctions or diplomacy, but through court orders. In this war, the courtroom is now an extension of the battlefield, and Ukraine is learning how to win on both.