- Patrick Jackson
- BBC News
Alina Kabeva and Lyudmila Ocheretnaya
Britain has imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ex – wife and another woman he considers his current girlfriend in connection with the invasion of Ukraine.
Lyudmila Oceretnaya, who married the Russian president until 2014, and former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabeva face a travel ban to the United Kingdom and the freezing of their assets there.
Britain has now added more than 1,000 to Russia’s sanctions list.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain was “working to tighten the noose” on Putin’s “close circle”.
He noted that the UK was “exposing and targeting suspicious networks that support Putin’s luxurious lifestyle” and “imposing sanctions on those who acknowledge and support Putin’s occupation until Ukraine wins.”
Truss said sanctions against Russia would only be lifted if all Russian forces withdrew from Ukraine.
Earlier, at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Germany, Truss said allies should move “more and more fast” in support of the Ukrainian opposition.
He further added that President Putin should face failure to prevent further aggression – but some analysts have warned that this position could make the political settlement even more difficult.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the European Union would like to impose sanctions on a number of Russian individuals, including Kabewa.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, thousands of civilians and militants have been killed and wounded, and some 14 million people have fled their homes and more than six million have sought refuge abroad.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) says that since his divorce from Putin, Lyudmila Oceretnaya has benefited from preferential trade relations with state – owned enterprises and has amassed extraordinarily large fortunes.
The office notes that Ocheretnaya is still close to Putin and will receive financial or material benefits from the relationship.
Kabeva is a former Russian legislator and chairman of the National Media Council, Russia’s largest private media company, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Foreign Affairs and Development.
Putin and Kabiva at a party in 2001
The Office notes that the National Media Council controls television stations, including Channel One, which is already subject to restrictions.
“He is also rumored to be Putin’s current partner, and he has been trying to reduce his vision since the invasion began,” the office said.
“For example, two weeks after the invasion, the National Media Group’s website was updated to remove its name, as well as a reference to the board of directors.”
The Russian leader has openly denied that there is a relationship between him and Kabiva.
Kabeva’s grandmother Anna Jatsipilina and Putin’s relatives have been added to the list of British sanctions.
Property freezing prevents any British citizen or any UK entity from handling any financial or economic resources owned, controlled or controlled by an authorized person.
A travel ban means that a person must be denied entry or stay in the UK.
The British Foreign Secretary, one of the UK’s most vocal ministers in setting clear objectives for the conflict, said in a speech last month that Russia should be expelled “from the whole of Ukraine.”
Some foreign policy analysts have raised concerns that such specific demands could one day conflict with Ukraine’s interests and make negotiations difficult.
The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Moldova are expected to join G7 ministers at another meeting in Germany on Friday.
Truss will travel to Berlin on Saturday for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, and Truss will present a “strengthened and modernized” model of the Western alliance, according to the Office of Foreign and Commonwealth Foreign and Development.
“Coffee trailblazer. Social media ninja. Unapologetic web guru. Friendly music fan. Alcohol fanatic.”
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