Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Campaigner urges Johnson to freeze assets of thousands of Russians in UK

Campaigner urges Johnson to freeze assets of thousands of Russians in UK

Andrei Sidelnikov says he is making list of suspected Putin supporters to share with British government
A London-based anti-Putin campaigner has called on Boris Johnson to freeze the assets of thousands of Russian citizens in the UK in a bid to root out those with ties to the Kremlin.

Andrei Sidelnikov said he told the prime minister to impound the property and bank accounts of emigrants with unexplained wealth, connections with the Russian embassy in London, ties to pro-Putin oligarchs, and of those involved in organising cultural events linked to the Russian state.

Sidelnikov, a former associate of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko who was murdered in London in 2006, said their assets should be confiscated while corruption investigations were conducted, adding that he was compiling a list of suspected Putin supporters that would be shared with the UK government.

The opposition activist said his campaign group, Speak Up!, had founded a new project called Revenge, aimed at gathering the names of Russian emigrants who support Vladimir Putin.

“From this moment, all the people who supported this criminal regime must answer for this,” said Sidelnikov, who received political asylum in Britain in 2008 after telling officials his life would be in danger if he remained in Russia. “[If we] don’t close such doors for supporters of criminal Putin’s regime then the war will come to our homes.”

In a letter sent to Johnson after Russia invaded Ukraine last month, Sidelnikov also called on the UK government to cancel diplomatic relations with Russia, stop granting visas to Russian citizens until stricter immigration checks were put in place, and to push Nato to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

He added that British lawyers and financiers who helped corrupt Russian emigrants should face tougher legal penalties. “In the future, it must be a criminal offence to have relations with Russians who are supporting the fascist regime.”

Although the campaigner admitted there was a danger that such action could fuel Russophobia in the UK, he added: “The problem is that there are so [many] Russian citizens who supported Putin’s criminal regime. It’s very difficult to find them because it’s thousands, not 10 or 100, or 700.

“The Russian community is very angry about what I’m saying because so many of them have some links with Putin’s regime.”

Sidelnikov said that before the invasion of Ukraine he had sent the prime minister a list of 99 Russian citizens living in the UK who supported Putin.

Since the invasion, he said, more than 100 names had been added to this database, adding that his organisation would continue to gather information on allegedly corrupt Russian emigrants for the duration of the war.

“The plan is to give this not only to UK authorities, but to give this to the authorities in other countries, including the European Union and the US,” he said.

The activist said the names included people who had not been publicly identified as Putin supporters.

“We know those people who are living here and there are no sanctions on them,” he added. “They are trying to corrupt British society.”

He said a task force, consisting of the police, security services, government officials and MPs, should be established to investigate those accused of corruption.

Sidelnikov, 46, added that some emigrants in the UK were now pretending that they had never supported the Russian president.

“Some people are turning around after all the years they supported his regime, and now they’re putting on their Facebook, oh, we don’t want war, we’re not for war.”

The campaigner predicted that Russia would lose the war with Ukraine. But he expected that Putin would retain the presidency for the foreseeable future.

“There is no opposition,” Sidelnikov said. “Some of them were killed like my friend Litvinenko. A lot of my friends are in prison now. Some of them escaped from Russia.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
×