Britain Mirrors US With Sanctions On Putin's Daughters

(April 8, 2022, 5:03 PM BST) -- Britain imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's two adult daughters on Friday, following steps taken by the U.S. in a further move the government said would target the "lavish lifestyles" of the Kremlin's inner circle.

Putin's daughters, Katerina Tikhonova, 35, and Maria Vorontsova, 36, and Yekaterina Vinokurova, 39, the daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, will be subjected to an asset freeze and travel bans.

The three women, who were sanctioned by the U.S. on Wednesday in retaliation for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, were designated under an urgent procedure introduced in recent economic crime legislation. The bill allows the U.K. to impose sanctions on individuals already designated by allied nations.

"By freezing the assets and limiting the travel of Putin's allies, the U.K. government is sealing off reservoirs of cash funding the conflict, while also making sure those who have benefited from Putin's rule feel the consequences," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

Britain imposed asset freezes on two of Russia's largest banks on Wednesday. The government said it would end all imports of coal and oil from the country by the end of 2022 after reports of atrocities by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

Britain announced its latest steps after announcements by the U.S. on Wednesday that it would place its "most severe" sanctions on Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, and Alfa Bank, the largest private financial institution in Russia and fourth-largest overall.

More than 1,200 individuals and businesses — including 76 oligarchs and 16 banks with a global net worth of £150 billion and £500 billion respectively — have been sanctioned by the U.K. since Russia invaded its European neighbor.

The government said that £275 billion – 60% of Russian foreign currency reserves – have been frozen by coordinated U.K. and international sanctions, which Truss said were "degrading the Russian economy on a scale Russia hasn't seen since the fall of the Soviet Union."

–Additional reporting by Ronan Barnard. Editing by Ed Harris.

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