Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Ukraine war: UK adds Putin's former wife to sanctions list

Ukraine war: UK adds Putin's former wife to sanctions list

The UK has imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's former wife and his alleged current girlfriend over the invasion of Ukraine.

Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, who was married to the president until 2014, and former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, face UK travel bans and asset freezes.

The UK has now placed more than 1,000 people on its Russian sanctions list.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain was "tightening the vice" on Mr Putin's "inner circle".

The UK was "exposing and targeting the shady network propping up Putin's luxury lifestyle", she said, and would "keep going with sanctions on all those aiding and abetting Putin's aggression until Ukraine prevails".

Ms Truss said sanctions against Russia should only be lifted when all of its troops had left Ukraine.

Earlier, she told a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Germany that allies should go "further and faster" in supporting Ukraine's resistance.

She said President Putin must face a defeat that prevents further aggression - but some analysts have warned this stance may make a political settlement harder.

Earlier this month it was reported that the EU planned to sanction more Russian individuals, including Ms Kabaeva.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, thousands of civilians and combatants have been killed or injured, and some 14 million people have fled their homes, with more than six million seeking refuge abroad.

Since her divorce, Lyudmila Ocheretnaya has benefited from preferential business relationships with state-owned entities and exhibited significant unexplained wealth, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) says.

She is a close associate of Mr Putin and obtains a financial or material benefit from this association, it adds.

Ms Kabaeva is a former Russian MP and chair of the board of directors of the National Media Group, which is reportedly the largest private Russian media company, the FCDO says.

Mr Putin and Ms Kabaeva at a ceremony in 2001


It notes that the National Media Group controls television stations including Channel One, which is already under sanctions.

"She is also rumoured to be the current partner of Putin and it is reported that he has tried to reduce her visibility since the invasion began," the FCDO says.

"For example, a couple of weeks after the invasion, the National Media Group website was updated to remove her name, along with any reference to the board of directors."

Russia's leader has explicitly denied having a relationship with Ms Kabaeva.

Among others added to the UK sanctions list are Ms Kabaeva's grandmother, Anna Zatseplina, and cousins of Mr Putin.

An asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. A travel ban means the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the UK.

The UK foreign secretary has been among the most outspoken of UK ministers in setting out explicit aims relating to the conflict, saying in a speech last month that Russia should be pushed out of "the whole of Ukraine".

Some foreign policy analysts have raised concerns that such specific demands might one day clash with Ukraine's interests and could make negotiations harder.

Ukrainian and Moldovan foreign ministers are expected to join G7 ministers at another meeting in Germany on Friday.

On Saturday, Ms Truss is due to travel to Berlin for a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, where the FCDO says she will push for a "strengthened and modernised" version of the western alliance.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×