UK targets separatist leaders 'propping up illegal breakaway regions' of Ukraine with sanctions
The UK is targeting 178 Russian separatists deemed to be "propping-up the illegal breakaway regions" in eastern Ukraine in the latest round of sanctions
Foreign Secretary Lis Truss said the Foreign Office has long planned to focus sanctions on those behind the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, and the attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk which left at least 50 people dead, spurred them to act.
Russia has refocused its military efforts in recent weeks as President Vladimir Putin looks, according to Western intelligence, to mount an offensive on the Donbas region.
Who is being targeted in the latest round of sanctions?
The UK is sanctioning 178 individuals in co-ordination with the European Union, including Alexander Ananchenko and Sergey Kozlov - the self-styled prime minister and chair of government of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Family members of Russian oligarchs have been targeted including Pavel Ezubov, cousin of Oleg Deripaska - said to be Putin’s favourite industrialist, and Nigina Zairova, Executive Assistant to Mikhail Fridman - who is co-founder of Alfa Bank, Russia's largest non-state bank.
In total the government is sanctioning 206 individuals today, including the 178 separatists, six oligarchs, close associates and employees, and an additional 22 individuals.
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The UK recently slapped Putin's two daughters with sanctions, freezing the assets of Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova.
The daughter of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vinokurova, was also sanctioned. The latest measures were designed to target the "lavish lifestyles" of the Russian president's inner circle.
The UK has also grounded a Russian oligarch's private jet in London, owned by billionaire Eugene Shvidler the Cessna aircraft has been banned from flying in the UK and deregistered, meaning any certificates in place to permit it to fly have been suspended.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the UK said it has sanctioned more than 1,400 individuals and businesses – including more than 100 oligarchs and family members.
Some of the oligarchs to be sanctioned include Roman Abramovich, former owner of Chelsea FC, who is unable to benefit from the selling of the club, Andrey Kostin, chair of VTB bank, Russia’s second largest bank and Alexei Miller, chief executive of energy giant Gazprom.
Selected Russian banks have also been cut off from the Swift banking system, a move aimed at economically isolating Russia and crippling its financial system.
Ms Truss said: “In the wake of horrific rocket attacks on civilians in eastern Ukraine, we are today sanctioning those who prop up the illegal breakaway regions and are complicit in atrocities against the Ukrainian people.
“We will continue to target all those who aid and abet Putin’s war.”
The foreign secretary also said that the latest package of punishing measures would include extending the import ban on Russian goods.
She added: “From tomorrow, we are banning the import of Russian iron and steel, as well as the export of quantum technologies and advanced materials that Putin sorely needs.
“We will not rest in our mission to stop Putin’s war machine in its tracks.”