UK, US sanctions target Russian oligarch Usmanov and Cypriot 'fixers'

Britain and the US targeted fresh sanctions Wednesday at Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov and Cyprus-based "financial fixers" who allegedly help mask his assets as well as those of fellow Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

The two countries together added dozens of figures and companies tied to the oligarchs on their financial blacklists, in an ongoing effort to crimp the activities of powerful figures accused of supporting the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war on Ukraine.

At the same time, Washington slapped sanctions on firms in Hong Kong, Turkey and the UAE which it said were selling drones and electronics, including US-made semiconductors, to Russia's defense sector.

The State Department singled out a Chinese company, Head Aerospace Technology, which it said was selling satellite imagery to Russia's mercenary Wagner group, and also blacklisted Patriot PMC, another Russian private militia it said was tied to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

"We are closing the net on the Russian elite and those who try to help them hide their money for war," Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement, vowing there would be "no place to hide".

"As the Kremlin seeks ways around the expansive multilateral sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia for its war against Ukraine, the United States and our allies and partners will continue to disrupt evasion schemes that support Putin on the battlefield," said US Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson.

The UK and US sanctions singled out USM Holding and other key companies and executives in the network of Usmanov, the Uzbekistan-born iron and steel magnate who controls Metalloinvest and whose worth is estimated by Bloomberg at $18.7 billion.

The US Treasury said Usmanov is close to Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council.

Last year German authorities raided several of his properties for alleged tax evasion and reportedly seized his mega-yacht Dilbar.

Usmanov has "a wide network of businesses in financial safe-havens" including Cyprus which, helped by family members, he uses to move money that could circumvent sanctions, according to the US Treasury.

UK's Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FDCO) placed sanctions on Cypriot "professional enablers" Demetris Ioannides and Christodoulos Vassiliades, who allegedly help powerful Russians like Usmanov and previously sanctioned Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club, skirt Western controls.

Ioannides crafted "murky offshore structures" used by Abramovich to hide over ?760 million in assets before being sanctioned last year, while lawyer Vassiliades developed trusts and offshore companies utilised by Usmanov, the US government said.

Washington added a third Cypriot fixer, Demetrios Serghides, to its sanctions blacklist, saying he helped buy and manage assets like real estate for Usmanov and his family.

The FCDO -- which has announced several tranches of sanctions over the last 14 months -- said its latest also target family members of oligarchs, who are used as "proxies to hide their assets".

They include Ukrainian TV presenter Oksana Marchenko, whose Ukrainian tycoon husband Viktor Medvedchuk was a former lawmaker sent to Russia alongside his spouse in a prisoner swap last year.

Both the US and UK sanctions bodies also added other Russian tycoons and their families to their blacklists, including Andrei Skoch, which the FCDO called the "richest man in the Duma," and telecoms billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov.

"Together with our international partners the UK will continue to crack down on those who are supporting the war. We won't stop until (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does," said Cleverly.