UK sanctions daughter of Russia's foreign minister, who somehow bought a $5 million apartment in London in cash aged 21

Tom Porter
·2 min read
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov looks on, next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they wait for the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov looks on, next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they wait for the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021.Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

  • The UK has sanctioned Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's stepdaughter over the war in Ukraine.

  • Polina Kovaleva owns a £4 million luxury apartment in an exclusive part of London.

  • It comes as part of a new wave of UK sanctions against Russian individuals and businesses

The UK sanctioned Polina Kovaleva, stepdaughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who owns a luxury £4 million ($5 million) property in London.

The blacklisting was announced Thursday by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss as part of a range of new sanctions targeting Russian elites, banks and businesses.

The announcement confirms reporting by Maria Pevchikh, an investigator at jailed Russian opposition leader Alexander Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation. In a recent Twitter thread said that Lavrov had a second family, and that his stepdaughter, Kovaleva, enjoyed a lavish lifestyle in the West.

Kovaleva, 26, owns a lavish apartment in Kensington, one of the most expensive parts of London.

Per Pevchikh, she is reportedly the daughter of Svetlana Polyakova, 51, Lavrov's longterm partner. UK property records show that Kovaleva bought the Kensington property with no mortgage in 2016, aged 21.

The UK Foreign Office said its sanctioning "sends a strong signal that those benefiting from association of those responsible for Russian aggression are in scope of our sanctions."

The sanctions mean that Kovaleva's assets in the UK have been frozen, and she is banned from travelling to the UK.

UK lawmakers had called for Kovaleva to be sanctioned ahead of the announcement, reported The Guardian.

Lavrov is a longtime member of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle, and has fiercely defended Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. He has already been sanctioned by the US and other Western countries.

Sanctioning the children and other family members of top Russian officials has been a striking feature of the response to the war in Ukraine, apparently designed to make sure the measures take a personal toll on decision-makers. They may also be meant to stop sanctions evasion by allowing people to access assets held by family members.

On March 11, the US sanctioned Elizaveta Peskova, the daughter of Putin Dmitry Peskov. Peskova in an interview with Insider said the sanctions had ruined her travel plans and called them "totally unfair and unfounded."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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