Ukraine Conflict: Did the UK sanction 100 people last week?

2 years ago 30
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By Reality Check team
BBC News

Image source, UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor

At Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson told MPs the actions the UK had taken in response to the invasion of Ukraine "are having an effect in Moscow".

He said the UK had sanctioned "275 individuals already, a further 100 last week, the impact is being felt".

Mr Johnson has referred to the 100 figure several times in the past week. But when Reality Check asked for the names of the 100, the government could not provide them and said: "We'll let you know as soon as we have further details to add."

Instead, it sent a list of every person and company currently sanctioned by the UK, including people from Iran and North Korea. It shows that 15 individuals have been sanctioned in the past week:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,
  • Belarusian Deputy Minister of Defence for Logistics Maj Gen Andrei Burdyko,
  • General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus Maj Gen Victor Gulevich
  • Belarusian Deputy Minister of Defence for Armaments Sergei Simonenko
  • Belarusian Deputy Minister of Defence Andrey Zhuk,
  • Russian Direct Investment Fund chief executive Kirill Dmitriev
  • VTB Bank deputy president Denis Bortnikov
  • Petr Fradkov, who chairs Promsvyabank
  • PAO Sibur Holding board deputy chairman Kirill Shamalov
  • PJSC United Aircraft Corporation general director Yury Slyusar
  • Elena Georgieva, who chairs the board of Novikombank
  • Bank Rossiya major shareholder Gennadiy Timchenko
  • SMP Bank director Boris Rotenberg
  • Igor Rotenberg, who chairs the board of National Telematic Systems

When asked about this, the prime minister's spokesman said there were 100 individuals and entities.

While the prime minister specified individuals, also adding companies doubles the number, but still does not get to 100.

But UK officials told BBC News that the figure also includes the major subsidiaries of the companies. They said, for example, the sanctioned company Rostec has about 60 subsidiaries, all of which could count towards the number sanctioned.

We also asked about the 275 figure Mr Johnson mentioned but the government did not provide the details.

Of all the people on the list (not just those sanctioned in the last week), we counted 195 who had been sanctioned as a result of measures linked to Russia.

But these date back to the Salisbury poisonings, when a former Russian spy and his daughter were targeted by Russian agents.

List promised

On Wednesday, Mr Johnson said the government would publish a list of all those with assets related to the Kremlin but failed to say when.

Sanctions he has announced so far include:

  • assets of all major Russian banks will be frozen and excluded from the UK financial system
  • President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have had their assets frozen
  • Russian companies and the state will be prevented from raising finance or borrowing money on UK markets
  • Aeroflot will be banned from landing in the UK
  • a suspension of dual-use export licences to cover components for military purposes
  • a stop to exports of high-tech items and oil refinery equipment
  • a limit on deposits Russians can make in UK bank accounts

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