Britain has announced that it will freeze the assets of five Russian banking and arms-manufacturing tycoons and ban the Russian airline Aeroflot from landing in Britain as part of a new package of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Announcing the sanctions on February 24, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the attack “hideous and barbaric” and said the world now sees Russian President Vladimir of Putin for what he is -- “a bloodstained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest.”
Johnson told Parliament that Putin "will never be able to cleanse the blood of Ukraine from his hands."
Live Briefing: Ukraine Under Attack
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
He said Putin was always determined to attack Ukraine no matter what Western countries did, adding that the Russian president "will stand condemned in the eyes of the world and of history."
The assets blockage affects more than 100 Russian entities including state-owned VTB, one of Russia's largest banks, and Rostec, a military conglomerate, U.K. officials said.
Britain will pass laws to prevent the Russian state and Russian entities from raising money in London and will ban the export of "dual-use" equipment that can have military applications.
As well as banning Aeroflot, Britain added Kirill Shamalov, Putin’s former son-in-law; Promsvyazbank CEO Pyotr Fradkov; Denis Bortnikov; Yuri Slyusar; and Yelena Georgieva to its sanctions list.
A British diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that they are people who have "international lifestyles." They shop at Harrods department store in London, stay in London’s best hotels, and send their children to private schools in Britain.
Britain’s move to sanction Russia over its invasion of Ukraine came on the same day the United States and the European Union imposed additional harsh sanctions on Moscow.