Russia has been hit with 65 new sanctions by the UK, in a move the Foreign Office said was designed to target “key strategic industries and individuals” as the war in Ukraine entered its second month.
Among those hit were six banks and a defence company that produces drones, as well as the Wagner Group, which Britain said had reportedly been tasked with assassinating the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The “mayor” of Melitopol, a region in south-eastern Ukraine currently under Russian military occupation, also faced sanctions for “collaboration” with the invading forces, in the first announcement of its kind.
Other individuals who had their UK assets frozen included the billionaire oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, who has close links to Roman Abramovich; Herman Gref, the chief executive of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank; and Polina Kovaleva, the Russian foreign minister’s stepdaughter, who reportedly owns a £4m house in London.
The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said all were “complicit in the murder of innocent civilians” and should “pay the price”.
She added: “Putin should be under no illusions – we are united with our allies and will keep tightening the screw on the Russian economy to help ensure he fails in Ukraine. There will be no let-up.”
The sanctions, which were also imposed on Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond producer, will ban all those targeted from travelling to or from the UK and freezes their assets based in the country indefinitely.
Despite four weeks passing since Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Truss is understood to want to keep tightening the vice around those with links to the Kremlin.
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