BBC News
Russia has protested to the Belgian ambassador over the seizure of Russian state assets in Belgium - a move triggered by a court ruling over the now-defunct Yukos oil firm.
The ambassador was told that the asset seizure was "an openly hostile act" that "crudely violates the recognised norms of international law".
Last year a court told Russia to pay Yukos shareholders $50bn (£32bn) in compensation, after Yukos's break-up.
A Russian state firm took over Yukos.
Last July an international arbitration court in The Hague said Russian officials had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt Yukos, and jail its boss, the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
France has also seized Russian state accounts in about 40 banks, along with eight or nine buildings, AFP news agency reports.
In a statement on Facebook Mr Khodorkovsky, who spent 10 years in detention in Russia, expressed joy at the asset seizures.
"I am not a beneficiary in this process as the partners redeemed my share back in 2004. But this does not prevent me from sincerely rejoicing, as a Russian citizen, at what is happening now.
"This is a symbolic moment for our country," he said, calling it "a signal that theft will not escape punishment, no matter how all-powerful the thief was".
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