Live Updates: List of 7 Russian Billionaires Sanctioned by UK, their Net Worth as Putin's Govt Attacks Ukraine
It is no longer news that President Vladimir Putin of Russia is waging an unpopular war on Ukraine. The war had already claimed many lives including children and wrecked countless havoc and destruction on the country.
As a result of the unpopularity of the war, many countries have heaped different sanctions on Russia. Millions of dollars have been sent to Ukraine in form of humanitarian assistance, weapons, and security gadgets. Most importantly, Ukrainians have shown their resilience and courage. Follow Legit.ng's live updates on the Russian war.
List of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by UK
Here is a list of the Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK:
- Roman Abramovich
- Oleg Deripaska
- Igor Sechin
- Gazprom Alexey Miller
- Andrey Kostin
- Nikolai Tokarev
- Dmitri Lebedev
Collectively, the seven have a net worth of about £15 billion ($19.2bn), according to Al Jazeera.
They all reportedly have "close links to Putin".
UK Seizes Abramovich’s Assets, 6 Russian Oligarchs, Stops Sale of Chelsea FC
Decrying the invasion in Ukraine, the United Kingdom on Thursday, March 10, impounds all assets of Chelsea FC owner, Roman Abramovich.
Abramovich is one of seven oligarchs facing sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans over the Russian shelling and killings in Ukraine.
Other billionaires suffering similar sanctions are Igor Sechin and Oleg Deripaska, regarded as allies of Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists that there will be no means of escape for all supporters of the invasion.
US bans all imports of Russian oil and gas
The United States has taken another strong measure against Russia.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday, March 8, announces that the US is banning all imports of Russian oil and gas.
He writes on Twitter:
"Today, I’m announcing that the United States is targeting a main artery of Russia’s economy.
"We are banning all imports of Russian oil and gas."
Outcome of third round of talks
Amid the attacks by Russia, A third round of talks has resulted in small progress on evacuation logistics, Ukraine says.
According to Al Jazeera, Russia announced a temporary ceasefire and a plan to evacuate Ukrainians from several cities, mainly to Russia and Belarus.
Ukraine, however, rejected the proposal as “immoral” and said its citizens should be also allowed to evacuate to other parts of the country.
It is also gathered that Russia’s top diplomat will reportedly meet with his Ukrainian counterpart on Thursday, March 10, in Turkey.
Russian forces declare partial ceasefire
Russian forces declare a ceasefire. This, according to Al Jazeera, is to allow humanitarian corridors out of the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.
That is, to evacuate residents of Mariupol and Volnovakha.
Let us meet: Zelenskyy tells Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to meet him for talks, Al Jazeera stated.
Russian forces seize control of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
Russian forces have seized control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Al Jazeera reported that Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest such facility in Europe.
A fire broke out at the complex when it came under attack early on Friday, but it has now been extinguished.
Second round of talks between Kyiv and Moscow ends
A second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine has ended. The highlight of the talks is that both side agree on a tentative plan to create a humanitarian corridor.
Photo reveals missile used by Russia to bomb Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv
Christo Grozev, an investigative journalist, has revealed the caliber and specification of missiles used by Russian troops to bomb Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv.
In his tweet on Wednesday, March 2, Grozev noted that he and his team made this discovery after enhancing the CCTV images of the cultural and administrative building of the city that was attacked.
He noted that images from the recovered video match "the countours and dimensions of 3M54-1 Kalibr".
Grozev went on to conclude that Ukraine has no such missiles. This places a huge question mark on claims by Russian propagandists that Ukraine, to attack international sympathy and support, bombed the building.
Roman Abramovich, Russian owner of Chelsea FC, set to sell football club
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, according to CNN, has finally decided to sell Chelsea Football Club, noting that it is "in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club's sponsors and partners."
Though he provided no timetable, Abramovich said the sale "will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process."
The billionaire had earlier declared he gave "stewardship" of the club over to trustees of the club's charitable foundation.
UN approves resolution condemning Russia
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a non-binding resolution condemning Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and demanding an immediate withdrawal, according to Al Jazeera.
The vote saw 141 countries in favour, five against and 35 abstaining.
“People in Ukraine desperately need peace and people around the world demand it,” UN head Antonio Guterres was quoted to have said after the vote.
Russia loses 498 troops in Ukraine
Russian ministry of defense has acknowledged military casualties in Ukraine, according to CNN.
Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov says 498 Russian military personnel have been killed since the invasion of Ukraine and 1,597 have been wounded.
Second round of Russia-Ukraine talks set to begin
A Russian delegation is travelling to a meeting point for the second round of talks with Ukrainian counterparts, Reuters reports, citing Belarus' Belta news agency.
The meeting is expected to resume late Wednesday.
Talks continues
Talks to continue: A second round of Russia-Ukraine talks is set to take place today, according to a Ukrainian presidential aide.
The first round of talks on Monday lasted for five hours and ended without a breakthrough.
More than 2,000 civilians now dead in invasion
More than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have so far been killed during Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Wednesday, March 2, in a statement.
“More than 2,000 Ukrainians died, not counting our defenders. Children, women and our defense forces are losing their lives every hour."
Other sanctioned entities
- Russia’s central bank
- Swift: A “select” number of Russian banks will be removed from the Swift international payments system
- Sberbank: The US has cut off Russia’s biggest bank and 25 subsidiaries from the US financial system.
- VTB Bank: The US and the UK have frozen assets at Russia’s second-largest bank
- Alfa-Bank and Bank Otkritie face an EU ban on issuing bonds
- The EU and the UK have imposed asset freezes on Bank Rossyia and Promsvyazbank.
- The US has issued full blocking sanctions against Sovcombank and Novikombank, while placing new debt and equity restrictions on Russian Agricultural Bank, Credit Bank of Moscow and Gazprombank.
- Is Bank, Genbank and Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction have been placed under sanctions by the UK.
- VEB.RF, a major financial development institution has been put under sanctions by the EU. It was already on the US and UK lists.
- Belarus banks
- Russian airline Aeroflot will be banned from UK airspace.
- Rostec — Russia’s largest defence company
- Uralvagonzavod — the world’s largest tank manufacturer.
- Tactical Missile Corporation — a major supplier of air and seaborne missiles.
- United Aircraft Corporation
- United Shipbuilding Corporation — the largest shipbuilding company in Russia, which has constructed key Russian warships.
Ban on Belarusian officials
The EU and the US placed military, government and border officials from Belarus on their asset freeze and travel ban list for helping to plan and actively supporting the Russian military offensive against Ukraine.
Dozens injured as Russia attack Mariupol
Fierce fighting is continuing around Mariupol, as Russian and Russian-backed separatist forces have surrounded the southern Ukrainian city of about 400,000 people on three sides.
List of sanctioned government officials
- Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister
- Sergei Shoigu, Russian defence minister
- Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of the Russian security service (FSB)
- Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian armed forces
- Petr Fradkov, head of Promsvyazbank and son of the former head of Russian foreign intelligence
- Denis Bortnikov, deputy president of Russia’s second-biggest lender VTB and son of the FSB chief
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corp
- Elena Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence
- Gennady Timchenko, Russia’s sixth richest oligarch who controls private investment firm Volga Group
- Boris Rotenberg, a Russian oligarch who co-owns the largest construction company for gas pipelines in Russia
- Violetta and Lyubov Prigozhina, the mother and the wife of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who the EU says is responsible for sending Wagner Group mercenaries to Ukraine
- Sergei Ivanov, a Russian senior official and politician who previously served in the KGB, and his son, Sergei, chief executive of Russian state-owned diamond mining company Alrosa
- Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russian’s security council, his son, Andrey, former chief executive of Gazprom Neft
- oligarch Igor Sechin and his son Ivan, deputy department head at Rosneft.
- Senior executives at state-owned banks: Alexander Vedyakhin (Sberbank), Andrey Puchkov and Yuriy Soloviev (VTB), as well as Soloviev’s wife Galina Olegovna Ulyutina
Russian parliament:
The EU imposed sanctions on 351 members of the Russian Duma, placing them on a travel ban and asset freeze list.
Russian security council:
Members of the council are on the EU and US travel ban and asset freeze lists.
Kirill Shamalov, Russia’s youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin’s daughter Katarina, is banned from travelling to the UK and his assets there are being frozen.
Sanctions imposed on Putin
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President Vladimir Putin’s foreign-held assets in the EU, US and UK are frozen, but he is still allowed to travel to those jurisdictions. The reason for the asset freeze, according to the EU legal text published on Friday, is his recognition of the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, ordering the Russian armed forces into those areas and for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A brief recap of things has it stands
Biden's address:
US President Joe Biden condemned Russia's invasion in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Kyiv battered:
The Ukrainian capital came under rocket fire on Tuesday, with a Holocaust memorial and a maternity clinic hit.
Cities overwhelmed:
Russian forces also attacked other key cities, scaling up bombardment of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv.
Death toll:
The UN said at least 136 people, including 13 children, have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began, though the true toll is likely much higher. Ukraine's Interior Ministry reported higher figures on Sunday, saying 352 civilians had died and 1,684 had been injured since the Russian invasion.
Russia-Ukraine talks:
Officials from both countries met on Monday for the first time since the invasion began.
Aanu Adegun Aanu Adegun is a journalist with over 9 years of experience in both digital and traditional media. A graduate of English Studies from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo state. Aanu joined Legit.ng in 2016 covering politics and current affairs. Aanu started his journalism career as a features writer. He once anchored some specialised pages of a national newspaper. You can reach him via - aanu.adegun@corp.legit.ng
Onyirioha Nnamdi Onyirioha Nnamdi is a graduate of Literature and English Language at the University of Lagos. He is a Politics/Current Affairs Editor who writes on news and political topics for Legit.ng. He brings into his reporting a wealth of experience in creative and analytical writing. Nnamdi has a major interest in local and global politics. He has a professional certificate from Reuters and was awarded the editor with the best listicle for 2021. Contact: 08062988054, o.nnamdi@corp.legit.ng