Expropriation of Resources

Aggressors may carry out large-scale and systematic confiscation of natural, financial, and material assets in the captured territory. In the course of implementing this technique, industrial equipment is removed, the treasury is seized, food is confiscated, and mineral resources are exploited without restraint, solely for the extraction of benefits and to meet the needs of the metropole.

ID: T0052
Sub-techniques:  No sub-techniques
Peoples: Nokhchi (Chechens), Ukrainians
Version: 1.0
Created: 21 April 2026
Last Modified: 21 April 2026

Procedure Examples

ID Name Description
C0082 "Scorched Earth" Tactics and Criminal Mobilization (1941–1945)

Total removal of industrial equipment, food supplies, and agricultural machinery deep into the USSR during the retreat[1].

C0034 Administrative Dismantling and Enserfment of the Left Bank (1781–1786)

Secularization and confiscation into the imperial treasury of the lands of Ukrainian Orthodox monasteries (1786), depriving the local church of its economic base[2].

C1152 Burning of Lowland Chechnya by Velyaminov's Expedition: Demolition of Villages from the Sunzha to Mairtup, Seizure of Astemir's Family, Collective Penalties Imposed on Chechen Villages, the Cutting Down of Fleeing Inhabitants of Dzulgai-Yurt, and Destruction of Winter Stores (1830-1831)

In the autumn of 1830, General Velyaminov introduced collective property levies on Chechen villages that bore no responsibility for the actions of others: for the driving off by Chechens of ten head of cattle from the stanitsa of Chervlennaya, he "immediately ordered that ten head of cattle likewise be taken from the inhabitants of the two villages of Braguny and Novy-Yurt, past which the party had traveled, and returned to the Cossacks"; for the driving off of a herd of horses in the Nogai steppe, "Braguny once again paid with exactly the same number of head"; and Shakh-Girei, the owner of Novy-Yurt, was confined to a casemate — a prison cell of the Groznaya fortress — for the inaction of the village watch. This was recorded by the imperial historian Potto[3]. In December 1830, during the encirclement of the village of Daut-Martan, "the inhabitants managed to flee, but all their property became the booty of the detachment"[3].

C1156 Covert reconnaissance of Chechnya by Rosen's topographers and the devastation of Zandak by Pullo's detachment: capture of 31 inhabitants and seizure of livestock (1835-1836)

On August 23, 1836, during the destruction of the aul of Zandak, the detachment of Colonel Pullo, commander of the Sunzha fortified line, appropriated the property and livestock of the inhabitants. Corps commander Baron Rosen reported to the Minister of War: "our troops received as booty the property of the inhabitants and 384 head of cattle"[4].

C1143 Demonstrative destruction of the aul of Dadi-Yurt and the erection of the Vnezapnaya fortress to force the Nokhchi off the Kumyk plain (1819)

When laying waste to a Nokhchi aul, the Russian Empire handed its property over to the soldiers as spoils. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that the punitive raids under Yermolov proceeded "with the destruction of the population, houses, crops, orchards, and forests, the driving off of livestock, and the plundering of property," while Russian commanders invaded peaceful lands "to distinguish themselves or to seize booty"[5]. General Yermolov himself admits this in his "Notes": after the destruction of Dadi-Yurt, "the soldiers came away with rather rich spoils"[6].

C1114 Deprivation of the Nokhchi of political agency and the imposition of alien governance (1614–1616)

Representatives of the metropole's authorities openly seized property from the Nokhchi population, abusing their official position: in their petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the service Okochans of the Terek town reported that the Kabardian prince Sunchaley Yanglychevich Cherkassky «having taken from us by force 8 good horses from the herd, sent them off to his kabaks (villages) in Kabarda»[7][8].

C1148 Devastation of the Lowland Nokhchi Villages in Yermolov’s Punitive Campaign (1826)

The Russian Empire drove off livestock and plundered the ravaged villages of the Nokhchi. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that by May 18, 1826, «livestock had been driven off», and after the troops returned, Yermolov «sent a detachment of 500 Cossacks against Daut-Martan», and «the village was ravaged and plundered»[5].

C1115 Economic Exploitation and Creation of Dependency of the Nokhchi (1617–1622)

Representatives of the metropole confiscated the personal property of a deceased Nokhchi delegate into the state treasury: a memorandum from the Posolsky Prikaz to the Prikaz of the Kazan Palace prescribed an investigation into the death of the drowned Okotsky murza Kokhostrov Biytemirov, while of what was found they «took his clothing and all his goods into our treasury»[8].

C1136 Exploitation of the village of Solzha (Sunzhenskaya) as a resource base and its punitive devastation for the armed resistance of the Nokhchi (1818)

Solzha (Sunzhenskaya), one of the wealthiest villages, the Russian Empire kept as a source of supply for the fortress of Groznaya, and having seized the village by force, it spent several days carting away its stores. Historian D. A. Khozhayev records the ravaging of Solzha (Sunzhenskaya), as a consequence of which "most of the peaceful neighboring auls fled into the mountains, and the flourishing banks were left deserted for a long time thereafter"[5]. Imperial general Yermolov testifies in his "Notes" that he had earlier ordered the troops to spare the village so that the fortress "could obtain from it all necessary supplies," and when the troops seized the village, "grain, forage, and timber fit for building were carted away for several days"[6].

C1155 Extermination of 61 settlements of lowland Chechnya and mountainous Ichkeria by Rosen's troops, burning alive of the defenders of Germenchuk, and extortion of hostages from 80 villages (1832)

In August–September 1832, the troops of corps commander Baron Rosen appropriated the property and livestock of the residents and exacted monetary fines. The imperial historian Volkonsky wrote: the property of 50 families who had taken refuge in the forest near Mairtup "fell as booty to the detachment"; near Tsentoroy "6 horses and 50 head of cattle were seized"[9]. Rosen reported to Minister of War Chernyshev: on September 15, near the village of Dungen-yurt, the cavalry "seized 140 sheep and 9 head of cattle," and in total over the campaign "tribute and fines in money and livestock have been paid... about 5 th. r. s. [five thousand rubles in silver]"[4].

C0077 Forced Collectivization and Dekulakization (1928–1932)

Mass dispossession and forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of resisting peasants (the so-called "kurkuls") to remote special settlements in Siberia and the North[10].

C0103 Full-Scale Invasion (from February 24, 2022)

Large-scale plundering of economic resources: the removal of expensive industrial equipment (including steel from the Azovstal plant), illegal extraction of mineral resources, and the theft of more than 15 million tons of Ukrainian grain[11].

S0008 Government

Secularization and confiscation into the imperial treasury of the lands of Ukrainian Orthodox monasteries (1786), depriving the local church of its economic base[2].

S0008 Government

Total removal of industrial equipment, food supplies, and agricultural machinery deep into the USSR during the retreat[1].

C0014 Liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich (1709)

Confiscation and removal of the Sich artillery, treasury, river fleet, and food supplies[12].

C0012 Mazepa's Defection to Sweden and the Baturyn Massacre (1708)

Large-scale looting of state arsenals and the treasury during a punitive raid on the capital of the autonomy: "Menshikov managed to carry off part of the artillery"[13][14][15].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

Large-scale plundering of economic resources: the removal of expensive industrial equipment (including steel from the Azovstal plant), illegal extraction of mineral resources, and the theft of more than 15 million tons of Ukrainian grain[11].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

Representatives of the metropole's authorities openly seized property from the Nokhchi population, abusing their official position: in their petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the service Okochans of the Terek town reported that the Kabardian prince Sunchaley Yanglychevich Cherkassky «having taken from us by force 8 good horses from the herd, sent them off to his kabaks (villages) in Kabarda»[7][8].

S0012 Occupation and Controlled Administrations

Representatives of the metropole confiscated the personal property of a deceased Nokhchi delegate into the state treasury: a memorandum from the Posolsky Prikaz to the Prikaz of the Kazan Palace prescribed an investigation into the death of the drowned Okotsky murza Kokhostrov Biytemirov, while of what was found they «took his clothing and all his goods into our treasury»[8].

S0010 Regular Army

Large-scale looting of state arsenals and the treasury during a punitive raid on the capital of the autonomy: "Menshikov managed to carry off part of the artillery"[13][14][15].

S0010 Regular Army

Confiscation and removal of the Sich artillery, treasury, river fleet, and food supplies[12].

S0010 Regular Army

Forcible requisitioning ("prodrazverstka") and the non-stop export of grain, coal, and raw materials to the RSFSR without economic compensation, which provoked riots and the Hryhoriv uprising[10].

S0010 Regular Army

Solzha (Sunzhenskaya), one of the wealthiest villages, the Russian Empire kept as a source of supply for the fortress of Groznaya, and having seized the village by force, it spent several days carting away its stores. Historian D. A. Khozhayev records the ravaging of Solzha (Sunzhenskaya), as a consequence of which "most of the peaceful neighboring auls fled into the mountains, and the flourishing banks were left deserted for a long time thereafter"[5]. Imperial general Yermolov testifies in his "Notes" that he had earlier ordered the troops to spare the village so that the fortress "could obtain from it all necessary supplies," and when the troops seized the village, "grain, forage, and timber fit for building were carted away for several days"[6].

S0010 Regular Army

When laying waste to a Nokhchi aul, the Russian Empire handed its property over to the soldiers as spoils. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that the punitive raids under Yermolov proceeded "with the destruction of the population, houses, crops, orchards, and forests, the driving off of livestock, and the plundering of property," while Russian commanders invaded peaceful lands "to distinguish themselves or to seize booty"[5]. General Yermolov himself admits this in his "Notes": after the destruction of Dadi-Yurt, "the soldiers came away with rather rich spoils"[6].

S0010 Regular Army

The Russian Empire drove off livestock and plundered the ravaged villages of the Nokhchi. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that by May 18, 1826, «livestock had been driven off», and after the troops returned, Yermolov «sent a detachment of 500 Cossacks against Daut-Martan», and «the village was ravaged and plundered»[5].

S0010 Regular Army

In the autumn of 1830, General Velyaminov introduced collective property levies on Chechen villages that bore no responsibility for the actions of others: for the driving off by Chechens of ten head of cattle from the stanitsa of Chervlennaya, he "immediately ordered that ten head of cattle likewise be taken from the inhabitants of the two villages of Braguny and Novy-Yurt, past which the party had traveled, and returned to the Cossacks"; for the driving off of a herd of horses in the Nogai steppe, "Braguny once again paid with exactly the same number of head"; and Shakh-Girei, the owner of Novy-Yurt, was confined to a casemate — a prison cell of the Groznaya fortress — for the inaction of the village watch. This was recorded by the imperial historian Potto[3]. In December 1830, during the encirclement of the village of Daut-Martan, "the inhabitants managed to flee, but all their property became the booty of the detachment"[3].

S0010 Regular Army

On December 23, 1831, the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Zass, commander of the Mozdok Cossack Regiment, dispatched by General Velyaminov, drove off the livestock of the inhabitants of the devastated hamlets near the village of Chertugai. The imperial historian Volkonsky wrote: Zass "delivered to the camp... up to 250 head of cattle"[9]. Driving off 250 head of livestock in the middle of winter deprived the inhabitants of the devastated hamlets of their basic means of subsistence.

S0010 Regular Army

In August–September 1832, the troops of corps commander Baron Rosen appropriated the property and livestock of the residents and exacted monetary fines. The imperial historian Volkonsky wrote: the property of 50 families who had taken refuge in the forest near Mairtup "fell as booty to the detachment"; near Tsentoroy "6 horses and 50 head of cattle were seized"[9]. Rosen reported to Minister of War Chernyshev: on September 15, near the village of Dungen-yurt, the cavalry "seized 140 sheep and 9 head of cattle," and in total over the campaign "tribute and fines in money and livestock have been paid... about 5 th. r. s. [five thousand rubles in silver]"[4].

S0010 Regular Army

On August 23, 1836, during the destruction of the aul of Zandak, the detachment of Colonel Pullo, commander of the Sunzha fortified line, appropriated the property and livestock of the inhabitants. Corps commander Baron Rosen reported to the Minister of War: "our troops received as booty the property of the inhabitants and 384 head of cattle"[4].

G0009 Russian Empire

Secularization and confiscation into the imperial treasury of the lands of Ukrainian Orthodox monasteries (1786), depriving the local church of its economic base[2].

G0009 Russian Empire

Solzha (Sunzhenskaya), one of the wealthiest villages, the Russian Empire kept as a source of supply for the fortress of Groznaya, and having seized the village by force, it spent several days carting away its stores. Historian D. A. Khozhayev records the ravaging of Solzha (Sunzhenskaya), as a consequence of which "most of the peaceful neighboring auls fled into the mountains, and the flourishing banks were left deserted for a long time thereafter"[5]. Imperial general Yermolov testifies in his "Notes" that he had earlier ordered the troops to spare the village so that the fortress "could obtain from it all necessary supplies," and when the troops seized the village, "grain, forage, and timber fit for building were carted away for several days"[6].

G0009 Russian Empire

When laying waste to a Nokhchi aul, the Russian Empire handed its property over to the soldiers as spoils. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that the punitive raids under Yermolov proceeded "with the destruction of the population, houses, crops, orchards, and forests, the driving off of livestock, and the plundering of property," while Russian commanders invaded peaceful lands "to distinguish themselves or to seize booty"[5]. General Yermolov himself admits this in his "Notes": after the destruction of Dadi-Yurt, "the soldiers came away with rather rich spoils"[6].

G0009 Russian Empire

The Russian Empire drove off livestock and plundered the ravaged villages of the Nokhchi. Historian D. A. Khozhaev writes that by May 18, 1826, «livestock had been driven off», and after the troops returned, Yermolov «sent a detachment of 500 Cossacks against Daut-Martan», and «the village was ravaged and plundered»[5].

G0009 Russian Empire

In the autumn of 1830, General Velyaminov introduced collective property levies on Chechen villages that bore no responsibility for the actions of others: for the driving off by Chechens of ten head of cattle from the stanitsa of Chervlennaya, he "immediately ordered that ten head of cattle likewise be taken from the inhabitants of the two villages of Braguny and Novy-Yurt, past which the party had traveled, and returned to the Cossacks"; for the driving off of a herd of horses in the Nogai steppe, "Braguny once again paid with exactly the same number of head"; and Shakh-Girei, the owner of Novy-Yurt, was confined to a casemate — a prison cell of the Groznaya fortress — for the inaction of the village watch. This was recorded by the imperial historian Potto[3]. In December 1830, during the encirclement of the village of Daut-Martan, "the inhabitants managed to flee, but all their property became the booty of the detachment"[3].

G0009 Russian Empire

On December 23, 1831, the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Zass, commander of the Mozdok Cossack Regiment, dispatched by General Velyaminov, drove off the livestock of the inhabitants of the devastated hamlets near the village of Chertugai. The imperial historian Volkonsky wrote: Zass "delivered to the camp... up to 250 head of cattle"[9]. Driving off 250 head of livestock in the middle of winter deprived the inhabitants of the devastated hamlets of their basic means of subsistence.

G0009 Russian Empire

In August–September 1832, the troops of corps commander Baron Rosen appropriated the property and livestock of the residents and exacted monetary fines. The imperial historian Volkonsky wrote: the property of 50 families who had taken refuge in the forest near Mairtup "fell as booty to the detachment"; near Tsentoroy "6 horses and 50 head of cattle were seized"[9]. Rosen reported to Minister of War Chernyshev: on September 15, near the village of Dungen-yurt, the cavalry "seized 140 sheep and 9 head of cattle," and in total over the campaign "tribute and fines in money and livestock have been paid... about 5 th. r. s. [five thousand rubles in silver]"[4].

G0009 Russian Empire

On August 23, 1836, during the destruction of the aul of Zandak, the detachment of Colonel Pullo, commander of the Sunzha fortified line, appropriated the property and livestock of the inhabitants. Corps commander Baron Rosen reported to the Minister of War: "our troops received as booty the property of the inhabitants and 384 head of cattle"[4].

G0011 Russian Federation

Large-scale plundering of economic resources: the removal of expensive industrial equipment (including steel from the Azovstal plant), illegal extraction of mineral resources, and the theft of more than 15 million tons of Ukrainian grain[11].

C0074 Second Armed Invasion and Resource Depletion (1919)

Forcible requisitioning ("prodrazverstka") and the non-stop export of grain, coal, and raw materials to the RSFSR without economic compensation, which provoked riots and the Hryhoriv uprising[10].

S0017 Secret Police and Security Services

Mass dispossession and forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of resisting peasants (the so-called "kurkuls") to remote special settlements in Siberia and the North[10].

G0013 Soviet Russia (RSFSR)

Forcible requisitioning ("prodrazverstka") and the non-stop export of grain, coal, and raw materials to the RSFSR without economic compensation, which provoked riots and the Hryhoriv uprising[10].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

Large-scale looting of state arsenals and the treasury during a punitive raid on the capital of the autonomy: "Menshikov managed to carry off part of the artillery"[13][14][15].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

Confiscation and removal of the Sich artillery, treasury, river fleet, and food supplies[12].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

Representatives of the metropole's authorities openly seized property from the Nokhchi population, abusing their official position: in their petition to Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, the service Okochans of the Terek town reported that the Kabardian prince Sunchaley Yanglychevich Cherkassky «having taken from us by force 8 good horses from the herd, sent them off to his kabaks (villages) in Kabarda»[7][8].

G0008 Tsardom of Muscovy

Representatives of the metropole confiscated the personal property of a deceased Nokhchi delegate into the state treasury: a memorandum from the Posolsky Prikaz to the Prikaz of the Kazan Palace prescribed an investigation into the death of the drowned Okotsky murza Kokhostrov Biytemirov, while of what was found they «took his clothing and all his goods into our treasury»[8].

G0010 USSR

Mass dispossession and forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of resisting peasants (the so-called "kurkuls") to remote special settlements in Siberia and the North[10].

G0010 USSR

Total removal of industrial equipment, food supplies, and agricultural machinery deep into the USSR during the retreat[1].

C1154 Velyaminov's winter raids on Chechen hamlets and villages along the Sunzha: capture of women and devastation of homesteads (1831-1832)

On December 23, 1831, the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Zass, commander of the Mozdok Cossack Regiment, dispatched by General Velyaminov, drove off the livestock of the inhabitants of the devastated hamlets near the village of Chertugai. The imperial historian Volkonsky wrote: Zass "delivered to the camp... up to 250 head of cattle"[9]. Driving off 250 head of livestock in the middle of winter deprived the inhabitants of the devastated hamlets of their basic means of subsistence.

References

  1. Н. А. Волконский. (1886). Война на Восточном Кавказе с 1824 по 1834 г. в связи с мюридизмом.
  2. Лариса Якубова, большая команда. (2013). Відносини держави, суспільства і особи під час створення радянського ладу в Україні (1917 – 1938 рр.).
  3. Вікіпедія. (2026). Російсько-українська війна (з 2014) — Вікіпедія.
  4. Вікіпедія. (2026). Запорозька Січ — Вікіпедія.
  5. Татьяна Таирова-Яковлева. (2007). Мазепа.
  6. Татьяна Таирова-Яковлева. (2011). ИВАН МАЗЕПА И РОССИЙСКАЯ ИМПЕРИЯ ИСТОРИЯ «ПРЕДАТЕЛЬСТВА».
  7. Вікіпедія. (2026). Батуринська трагедія — Вікіпедія.