A US task force which has enforced sanctions on Russian oligarchs since the 2022 Ukraine invasion has been disbanded by Donald Trump’s justice department.

The effort, known as Task Force KleptoCapture, will end as part of a shift in focus and funding to combating drug cartels and international gangs, according to a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi, issued during a wave of orders on her first day in office.

“This policy requires a fundamental change in mindset and approach,” Ms Bondi wrote in the directive, adding that resources now devoted to enforcing sanctions and seizing the assets of oligarchs will be redirected to countering cartels.

The effort, launched during Joe Biden’s administration, was designed to strain the finances of wealthy associates of Russian president Vladimir Putin and punish those facilitating sanctions and export control violations.

It was part of a broader push to freeze Russia out of global markets and enforce wide-ranging sanctions imposed on Moscow amid international condemnation of its war in Ukraine.

The task force brought indictments against aluminium magnate Oleg Deripaska and Konstantin Malofeyev, the TV tycoon, for alleged sanctions busting, and seized yachts belonging to sanctioned oligarchs Suleiman Kerimov and Viktor Vekselberg.