WASHINGTON—Covington has secured a crucial victory against the Russian Federation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In a unanimous decision issued February 13, 2026, the D.C. Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that the Russian Federation does not have sovereign immunity in DTEK Krymenergo’s action to enforce an international arbitration award that is today worth more than $300 million.
Covington represented DTEK Krymenergo in the underlying arbitration, which concerned Russia’s expropriation of DTEK’s electricity distribution business in Crimea following Russia’s unlawful invasion in 2014. After winning an award of $208 million in damages, plus interest and costs, DTEK Krymenergo initiated proceedings in the District Court for the District of Columbia to recognize and enforce the arbitral award. The district court affirmed its subject-matter and personal jurisdiction in the enforcement action, holding that Russia did not have sovereign immunity pursuant to the arbitration exception of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
The D.C. Circuit unanimously rejected Russia’s appeal of that decision, upholding the district court’s jurisdictional findings under the FSIA. The Court opened its opinion with a strong rebuke of Russia’s attempts to evade accountability for its takings of Ukrainian businesses in Crimea:
“When Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, it did not arrive at an empty field. Ukrainian companies were already there, embedded in the daily life of the peninsula. Their businesses were lawful, visible, and stationary. Within months, Russian and Crimean forces seized facilities, transferred operations, and refused to provide compensation. In the cases before us, two sets of Ukrainian companies were affected (“Companies”). One is JSC DTEK Krymenergo (“DTEK”), an electricity distributor, and the other is a group of Ukrainian companies (“Investors”) that owned and operated petrol stations across Crimea and lost those businesses.”
“We are pleased that the DC Circuit followed well-settled precedent and these enforcement proceedings will now move forward,” said Marney Cheek, partner in Covington’s Washington, D.C. office.
DTEK, DTEK Krymenergo's parent company and the largest private energy firm in Ukraine, is fighting to keep the lights on as Russia continues its sustained attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this winter.
The Covington team was led by partner Marney Cheek and included special counsel Amanda Tuninetti, associates Jill Warnock, Gabriel Gates, and Hannah Hummel, and paralegal Liam Tormey.
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