The UK government has frozen seven Russian oligarchs’ assets and banned them from traveling to Britain for being in Putin’s ‘inner circle’ and also having ‘blood on their hands.
Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, Oleg Deripaska, and five other Russian oligarchs worth £15bn are among the seven oligarchs knocked with an asset freeze and travel ban under brutal new UK sanctions revealed on Thursday.
According to the announcement, The owner of Chelsea FC will also be restricted from transactions with UK individuals and businesses – meaning his plan to sell the club looks impossible.
Mr. Abramovich’s one-time business partner, Oleg Deripaska, has been hit with the same measures – as have Rosneft chief Igor Sechin and four more described as being in Putin’s ‘inner circle’.
Roman Abramovich is one of seven Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK Government today.
The Government estimates his wealth at more than £9billion and notes his stakes in steel giant Evraz, Norilsk Nickel, and ownership of Chelsea FC.
‘He is one of the few oligarchs from the 1990s to maintain prominence under Putin,’ a Government spokesman said.
The other oligarchs sanctioned today are: Oleg Deripaska: An estimated wealth of £2billion and a multi-million-pound Uk property portfolio. Subject to US sanctions since 2018. Has stakes in En+ Group, major extractives, and energy company that owns UC Rusal, one of the world’s major aluminum producers.
Igor Sechin: Chief Executive of Rosneft, the Russian state oil company. The Government said he is a ‘particularly close and influential ally of Putin’. Already sanctioned by the US and EU. Andrey Kostin: Chairman of VTB bank, the second-largest bank in Russia. A ‘close associate of Putin’ who has ‘long supported Kremlin objectives through VTB Bank’. The net worth of £379 million. Already sanctioned by the US and EU.
Alexei Miller: Chief executive of energy company Gazprom. Served under Putin when autocrat was mayor of St Petersburg. Already sanctioned by the US.
Nikolai Tokarev: President of the Russian state-owned pipeline company Transneft. Former KGB agent who served alongside Putin in East Germany. Already sanctioned by the US and EU.
Dmitri Lebedev: Chairman of Bank Rossiya, which is ‘widely considered to be the Kremlin’s private bank’. Sanctioned by the US in 2016.
The Foreign Office said the Economic Crime Bill coming into force next week ‘will allow UK Government to move further and faster than ever on sanctions’.
Boris Johnson said: ‘There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.
‘Today’s sanctions are the latest step in the UK’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people. We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals, and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.’
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss added: ‘Today’s sanctions show once again that oligarchs and kleptocrats have no place in our economy or society. With their close links to Putin, they are complicit in his aggression.
‘The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame.
‘Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will not stop in this mission to ramp up the pressure on the Putin regime and choke off funds to his brutal war machine.’
The Foreign Office said the oligarchs have a collective net worth of around £15billion.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted that Chelsea FC will be able to operate under a ‘special license’.
The team will be able to play fixtures and pay staff, but only ‘existing ticket holders will be able to attend.
It appears that means only season ticket holders, and away fans will not be permitted.
There is also the prospect that Champions League games will be played effectively behind closed doors, as those tickets are often purchased separately from season tickets.
Ms. Dorries said the aim was to ensure that Abramovich cannot ‘benefit from his ownership of the club’.
The surprise move came as Defence minister James Heappey insisted the bombing of a maternity hospital in Ukraine was a war crime and called for Putin and Russian generals to be held to account.
Mr. Heappey stressed that the West is gathering evidence that can be used in a future prosecution, but said in a round of interviews: ‘What you see on your TV screens is a war crime.’
The comments came as it was confirmed three people, including a child, died when warplanes bombed the hospital in besieged Mariupol as pregnant women gave birth in the basement.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the attack as an ‘atrocity’ and ‘the ultimate proof of genocide against Ukrainians’.
The hospital, in the besieged city of Mariupol, was hit ‘several times’ by high-explosive Russian bombs – one of which missed the building by yards and left a crater two stories deep, officials said. Other bombs scored ‘direct hits’, President Zelensky said, wounding at least 17 people.
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, said there can be ‘no doubt’ the hospital was deliberately ‘targeted’ by Russia in chilling echo tactics used during the bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo while Putin’s men were fighting alongside dictator Bashar al-Assad’s troops. Moscow denies targeting civilian facilities.
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