UK sanctions 386 Russian parliamentarians over support for separatists

Britain has sanctioned nearly 400 Russian parliamentarians as ministers sought to “tighten the screw” on Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said 386 members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, are being banned from travelling to the UK and any assets they have in the country will be frozen.

The Government originally announced its intention to sanction the parliamentarians last month over their support for the the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

The move follows the announcement on Thursday that seven more oligarchs linked to Vladimir Putin, including Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, were being subjected to similar measures.

In a statement, Ms Truss said: “We’re targeting those complicit in Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and those who support this barbaric war. We will not let up the pressure and will continue to tighten the screw on the Russian economy through sanctions.

“Together with our allies, we stand firmly beside our Ukrainian friends. We will continue to support Ukraine with humanitarian aid, defensive weapons and diplomatic work to isolate Russia internationally.”

Downing Street declined to say whether any of the politicians have any assets in the UK.

The Duma move was first announced on February 22 and ministers are yet to target all the members of the Federation Council, the Russian parliament’s upper house.

But the UK has now sanctioned more than 500 high-value individuals and entities since the invasion of Ukraine began, while Russian aircraft – including oligarchs’ private jets – are banned from the UK.

Later on Friday, Boris Johnson joined G7 allies in committing to taking steps to deny Russia “most favoured nation” status on key products, which No 10 said would significantly reduce the ability of Russian businesses to export.

The UK will also work towards banning exports of luxury goods to Russia, Downing Street said, with further detail to be set out in the coming days.

In a speech in Washington on Thursday, Ms Truss said Western allies needed to continue to do more – including freezing all Russian banking assets and excluding Russia completely from the Swift global payments system.

“We want a situation where they can’t access their funds, they can’t clear their payments, their trade can’t flow, their ships can’t dock and their planes can’t land,” she said.

Meanwhile ministers have continued to express concern that Russia could be preparing to use chemical weapons as its forces continue to struggle in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance.

Mr Johnson has warned the Kremlin is spreading a “fake story” that the US or the Ukrainians have chemical weapons in Ukraine as a possible pretext for an attack.

Technology minister Chris Philp told Times Radio the use of chemical weapons was “a line that Russian governments should not cross”.

“I would say to anybody in Russia thinking about this: do not cross that line, do not inflict any more misery and suffering on the Ukrainian people,” he said.

“It will trigger an increased response from the West, there’s a dramatic increased response, there’s no question about that.”

A spokesman for the Prime Minister backed Mr Philp’s warning, and added that Russia would be hit with a “robust” but unspecified response in the event of a chemical attack.

Western officials however believe that the most likely use of chemical weapons by the Russians at this stage would be in a “false flag” operation to provide retrospective justification for the invasion.

“Whilst the Russians are highly likely to have a chemical weapons capability, there is nothing to suggest that they intend to use it at this point in a major escalation of the current conflict,” one official said.

No 10 also stressed the need to keep the Chernobyl nuclear site “safe and secure” after Ukrainian defence intelligence alleged that Mr Putin is “preparing a terrorist attack” on the plant.

In an online post, the Ukrainians said Moscow could create a “man-made catastrophe” at the facility under its control before tying to “shift responsibility” onto Ukraine.

Mr Philp singled out the Russian embassy in the UK, which has had a separate post branded “fake news” removed by Twitter, over disinformation.

He told Sky News the embassy was “creating a false narrative that Ukrainians are considering using chemical weapons, which is clearly ridiculous and totally untrue”.

In its latest defence intelligence assessment, the Ministry of Defence said the Russians were looking to “reset and re-posture” their forces for “renewed offensive activity”, including operations against the capital, Kyiv.

It said the Russian ground forces were continuing to make “limited progress” and that “logistical issues” continued to hamper their advance.