Britain vows thorough sanctions on Russian elite

UK announces ‘dense package’ of measures against banks, individuals and companies aimed at imposing ‘highest economic cost’ for Ukraine invasion

People look at a screen displaying the exchange rate at a currency exchange office in St Petersburg, Russia. AP

Sanctioning oligarchs in Britain will be a methodical but thorough process with no legal escape, officials have said.

The UK is moving quickly in conjunction with the US and other allies to expand sanctions that would inhibit the further funding of Russia's invasion of Ukraine by hitting Moscow's $630 billion war chest, UK officials said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Plans are also being drawn up to stop all Russian banks from using the Swift financial system.

Outlining a “dense package” of 12 areas of current and future sanctions, the officials stated that the aim was to “impose the highest economic costs possible” on Russia for its attack on Ukraine.

Nine oligarchs so far have been hit with economic restrictions in Britain. This does not include Chelsea football owner Roman Abramovich, a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There’s a lot of interest in this in the lists of individuals,” a British official said. “We go through building our cases, according to our legal framework, and are pushing those through the system as fast as we can … Essentially, we have a hit list that we are working through.”

Currently, Russian citizens can only make bank deposits totalling $50,000 but it now appears this figure could be reduced further to limit wealthy Russians’ ability “to offset the impact of sanctions by making large deposits into UK banks”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, leads a meeting on economic issues in Moscow. AP

“That will be the subject of further legislation to limit the size of the deposits that they can make in UK banks,” the official said.

Britain will also impose sanctions on all the Russian parliamentarians who voted for the Ukraine invasion and all members of the Russian National Security Council, the official confirmed.

“We're going after a Russia's political elite and tackling dirty money in the UK,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said in a separate media briefing.

“In the last week alone, we've sanctioned around 100 businesses or individuals and we're bringing forward new powers under the economic crime bill.

“We are effectively cutting off the West from Russia, cutting Russia off from the West.”

He added that the enforcement was having a “significant and immediate impact on the Russian economy” and that it would force Mr Putin “to change his plans, both by starving his war machine of funding and by making the Russian people see the impact of his disastrous decisions”.

Central Bank of Russia headquarters in Moscow. Reuters

Following new legislation pushed through Parliament, Britain will join the US and EU in limiting Russia’s use its “foreign reserves to fund the invasion”.

“That's by sanctioning the Russian Central Bank and Russian state financial institutions and the legal basis for us to do that has come into force,” an official said.

It was also confirmed that people attempting to bypass sanctions by using cryptocurrency were “committing an offence” and would be prosecuted.

“There's no free pass for crypto assets,” the official said.

The size and scale of global sanctions against Russia is “far greater” than anyone, including Mr Putin, had been expecting, with countries such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea becoming involved as well, the official added.

The Ukraine — Russia conflict — in pictures

Damage after the shelling of buildings in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tank obstacles to be placed on roads around Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters

Anti-war protesters attach sunflowers to barriers in front of the Russian embassy. Reuters

Ukrainian volunteers prepare food for displaced people outside Lviv railway station in western Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Ukrainian refugees rest at Warsaw East train station in Poland. EPA

Children look out from a carriage window as a train prepares to depart from a station in Lviv to the town of Uzhhorod near the border with Slovakia. AFP

A girl who fled Ukraine is reunited with her father in Medyka, south-eastern Poland. AP Photo

Tears outside a house damaged by a Russian airstrike in Gorenka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo

A civil defence member is poised to shoot as a vehicle approaches a checkpoint in Gorenka. AP Photo

A Ukrainian civil defence member in the garden of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike. AP Photo

Members of the US Army 3rd Infantry Division board a plane bound for Germany in Savannah, Georgia. EPA

Prayers for peace in Ukraine at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square. AFP

A woman (right) hugs an arriving passenger from a train carrying refugees at Berlin's central station. EPA

Firefighters battle a blaze in a Kharkiv police building hit by shelling. AFP

A Ukrainian woman makes a phone call after crossing the Slovakian border. AFP

A doctor takes shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters

Debris which locals say was caused by shelling in separatist-controlled Horlivka, Donetsk. Reuters

MPs in London give a standing ovation to Ukraine ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, who was in the public gallery. AP

Distraught women and children fleeing Ukraine wait to enter Poland at the Korczowa crossing. Getty

Newborn Ivan lies next to his mother as they shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters

Firefighters hand water to people in a Ukrainian train full of refugees in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees queue to file for residency permits at Prague's police headquarters. AFP

Firefighters work to contain a blaze in buildings housing the Kharkiv regional police department. AFP

A woman and her children sit in a tent in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter. AP

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at the Kharkiv National University building, which city officials said was damaged by Russian shelling. Reuters

An elderly woman comforts a child as they take shelter inside an underground station in Kyiv. Reuters

People queue at a pharmacy in central Kyiv. Reuters

A woman is consoled by a volunteer after fleeing from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border crossing in Siret, Romania. Reuters

A Ukrainian civilian in the city of Zhytomyr practises throwing petrol bombs. Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poses after an interview with Reuters in Kyiv. Reuters

A blast is seen at Kyiv's TV tower. Reuters

A girl in Siret, Romania, covers herself with a blanket after fleeing from Ukraine. Reuters

Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, acknowledges applause from US first lady Jill Biden as they attend President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address in Washington. AFP

A man walks past the remains of Russian military vehicles in Bucha, close to Kyiv. AFP

Civilians cross a river on a blown-up bridge on Kyiv's northern front. Defending the capital is a 'key priority', Ukraine's president has said. AFP

Russian aircraft on the ground at Luninets Airbase, Belarus, about 50 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border. AFP

People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha. AP

A woman with a child who fled from the war in Ukraine reunite with their family after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland. AP

Animal keeper Kirilo Trantin comforts an elephant at Kyiv Zoo. AP

An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha. AP

Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv, western Ukraine. AP

Paramedics move a man who was wounded by shelling in a residential area of Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. AP

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike in Zhytomyr. Reuters

US actor and director Sean Penn attends a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv. Reuters

Demonstrators participate in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Lafayette Square in Washington. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers rest while others eat near the front line with Russian troops in northern Kyiv. AP

A barricade made of trams, buses and sand bags is seen through the window of car in the northern part of Kyiv. AP

Members of the European Parliament applaud after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech at a special session to debate its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

Ambassadors and diplomats walk out as Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (on screen) speaks during a recorded message at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. EPA