Russian elites could have their property seized and handed over to Ukrainian refugees, the deputy prime minister has suggested.
Dominic Raab made the remarks as he defended the UK’s response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Asked whether Britain could capture property assets owned by Russian oligarchs, he told LBC: “If we’ve got the evidence and the legal basis, then we’ll do it.”
Pressed on whether he would back using those properties to house Ukrainian refugees – a move called for by the Liberal Democrats and reportedly argued for in government by the housing secretary, Michael Gove – Raab replied: “Yes, absolutely.
“We are looking at everything in the round, it is a team effort across government, from the foreign and defence secretary through to Michael Gove and, of course, the prime minister is driving this very hard.”
The UK’s strategy appears to be based on trying to cause the whole Russian economy pain, which is why it has focused more on banking, state institutions and companies than individuals so far.
However, government sources have repeatedly said they are planning to target more oligarchs and politically connected people in “weeks and months”. Also on the list will be all members of the Russian parliament from both houses, and members of the Russian security council who voted for the invasion.
Two more oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Igor Shuvalov, faced sanctions on Thursday and their assets in the UK have been frozen. However, the Foreign Office refused to confirm whether any assets belonging to Vladimir Putin himself have been identified and frozen after sanctions against him last week.
The Foreign Office is understood to be confident that Shuvalov owns flats in Westminster worth an estimated £11m, and that Usmanov owns a £48m mansion in Hampstead and a Tudor manor in Surrey, though a spokesperson for Usmanov on Wednesday denied he was the owner. It was unclear which property or properties the spokesperson was referring to, but it raises the prospect Usmanov may have tried to offload property or is contesting the asset freeze.
Sources said individuals who had faced sanctions would no longer be allowed to repair their property without a licence, or rent or sell it.
The UK government has faced criticism for being too slow in its approach to implementing sanctions against Russian figures and linked assets. The Labour party chair, Anneliese Dodds, said the UK had to “stop dragging” its feet in clamping down on funds that have come from figures linked to Putin.
Support local charities
There are several Ukrainian charities working on the ground. Sunflower of Peace is a charity that helps paramedics and doctors, and has been fundraising for supplies, which includes first aid medical tactical backpacks.
United Help Ukraine focuses on providing medical supplies and humanitarian aid, and raising awareness of the conflict.
Voices of Children aims to help children affected by the war in eastern Ukraine, providing support through art therapy, psychologists, video storytelling and a number of other methods.
The British Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal to help Ukraine. The charity will be updating its webpage with news on the work its team is doing, and how support will be used to help people.
Support local journalism
English-language news outlets based in the country, such as Kyiv Independent and the New Voice of Ukraine, are covering developments on the ground as the conflict unfolds, using local journalists. The Kyiv Independent says it was created by journalists in order to defend editorial independence. This site on Twitter covers many local journalists in Ukraine.
Write to your local MP
This can be a way to lobby the British government to place further sanctions on the Russian government and its associates. You can get in touch with your local MP via email or post to their constituency address. Instructions on how to get in touch can be found on parliament.uk.
She told Sky News: “I certainly would say that we have been far too soft, especially over the last 10 years, on those funds that have come from Putin-linked oligarchs and business people.”
She added: “We see, even with the new measures that finally have been extracted from the government now that they say they will announce on Monday, an 18-month window before they will come into action – that’s just not good enough.
“We need immediate action now. We can put those registers of foreign-owned property into place in 28 days, we believe we could get those running and force that transparency.”
Raab, however, said the UK was “at the vanguard” of imposing sanctions on Kremlin-linked money.
Asked why the EU had imposed sanctions on more individual Russian elites than Britain had, he said on BBC Breakfast it was a “false distinction”, adding: “The question is not whether it is individuals or companies – it is where the money is flowing.”
Separately, he said: “There has been a running commentary that the UK has somehow been slow – we’ve not been slow. We’ve been at the vanguard of taking action and, of course, what is really important is we act in concert with our allies, European, American and other Nato allies.”
