Former Russian governor of the annexed city of Sevastopol Dmitry Ovsiannikov was recognized on Wednesday by the London court as guilty of deliberately violating sanctions, that the United Kingdom imposed more than four years ago. This is the first case of criminal prosecution in connection with the violation of sanctions against Russia in the country, He writes TASR, according to the AFP report and BBC TV website.
Ovsiannikova (48) The court found guilty of circumventing sanctions from February 2023 to January 2024, when he opened an account at the London bank and deposited nearly £ 80,000 he received from his wife. He was sentenced in six points of the indictment of seven. His brother Alexei (47) was sentenced in two points and the wife of former Russian governor London’s court deprived all the allegations. The judgment is to be delivered later.
The United Kingdom on Ovsiannikova imposed sanctions at the end of 2020 and His property in Britain was frozen. The authorities in London Ovsiannikova were detained in February 2024 on suspicion of violating these sanctions.
“We are determined to increase the pressure on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, his friends and all who help his barbaric war in Ukraine,” State Secretary of the British Foreign Ministry Stephen Doughty said on Wednesday. Ovsiannikov led Sevastopol – the city on the Crimea Peninsula annexed by Russia – from 2017 to 2019. Previously, and then he was Deputy Russian Minister of Industry and Trade.
The Crimean Peninsula and the City of Sevastopol were connected to Russia in 2014. Ukraine, whose territories under international law belong to, and the vast majority of countries of the world do not recognize this vote as legitimate: It was carried out in violation of the Ukrainian legislation, after the control of the Crimea by the Russian army and without the participation of independent observers. Ovsiannikov has been holding a British passport since January 2023, which was issued by the authorities there despite sanctions because his father was born in the United Kingdom.
