UK Sanctions More Russian Ministers Over Ukraine Invasion

The UK on Tuesday announced a new slew of sanctions on Russian ministers, members of Kremlin-linked families and senior figures in the Moscow-backed breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine.

Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko and his deputy Oleg Sviridenko have both been targeted with travel bans and asset freezes for “suppressing their own people by targeting those speaking out against the war”, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Vitaly Khotsenko and Vladislav Kuznetsov, the Russian-imposed prime minister and first deputy chairman of the so-called “Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics”, have also been sanctioned for “undermining Ukrainian territorial integrity”.

The UK has also targeted Sarvar and Sanjar Ismailov, nephews of Kremlin-linked oligarch Alisher Usmanov. Sarvar Ismailov was previously a director at Everton Football Club.

“We will not keep quiet and watch Kremlin-appointed state actors suppress the people of Ukraine or the freedoms of their own people,” said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the favourite to become the UK’s next prime minister.

“We will continue to impose harsh sanctions on those who are trying to legitimise Putin’s illegal invasion until Ukraine prevails.”