UK sanctions 386 Russian parliament members over Ukraine invasion

Britain has sanctioned 386 Russian parliament members who supported President Vladimir Putin’s devastating invasion of Ukraine.

The new sanctions against members of Russia’s Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, ban them from travelling to Britain as well as accessing any assets they hold in the UK.

The lawmakers were sanctioned after they voted in February to recognise the breakaway republics of Lugansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, providing a pretext for the war, Britain’s foreign ministry said.

“We’re targeting those complicit in Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and those who support this barbaric war,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

“We will not let up the pressure and will continue to tighten the screw on the Russian economy through sanctions.”

The move came after the government on Thursday froze the assets of Chelsea Football Club’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich, the highest-profile oligarch yet sanctioned by any Western country.

Abramovich, 55, was one of seven more oligarchs slapped with new British restrictions over the invasion, including his former business partner Oleg Deripaska.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been accused of delaying action against wealthy Russians, and turning a blind eye to Russian money that has coursed through London since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russian vessels and aircraft are already barred from the UK.