In a groundbreaking legal case, a former Russian government minister named Dmitrii Ovsiannikov has been found guilty of violating UK sanctions. Ovsiannikov, who previously served as a governor in Crimea following its controversial annexation by Russia, was accused of evading sanctions by accepting substantial sums of money from his wife and brother. The jury reached a verdict on six out of seven charges related to sanctions circumvention, marking the first prosecution of its kind under the Russia Sanctions Regulations in the UK.
According to the prosecution, two years after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir Putin appointed Ovsiannikov as the acting governor of Sevastopol in Crimea due to its strategic significance. Ovsiannikov went on to win elections for the governorship in 2017 but resigned from his position in July 2019. As a result of his role in Crimea, financial sanctions were imposed on him by the EU and UK. In a surprising turn of events, Ovsiannikov traveled to the UK from Russia in 2022 and successfully obtained a British passport despite the ongoing sanctions.
Upon his arrival in the UK in 2023, Ovsiannikov took up residence in his brother’s home in Clapham, where his wife and children were already living. It was revealed that his wife transferred a significant amount of money into his bank account, enabling him to purchase a Mercedes Benz SUV. However, the bank account was frozen after it was discovered that Ovsiannikov was on the UK sanctions list. Despite these challenges, Ovsiannikov’s family members were also accused of breaching sanctions by assisting him with financial transactions and school fees.
The verdict in the case sends a strong message, with Ovsiannikov’s wife being acquitted of certain charges while his brother was found guilty of circumventing sanctions in relation to school fee payments. Prosecutors argued that Ovsiannikov was well aware of his sanctioned status, as evidenced by his attempts to have the sanctions lifted shortly after arriving in the UK. Following the verdict, officials emphasized the importance of cracking down on sanctions violations to curb the influence of Russian elites and support for Putin’s actions in Ukraine. Ovsiannikov and his brother are set to be sentenced at a later date in Southwark Crown Court
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