Former Russian Minister Sentenced to 40 Months for Historic Sanctions Violation in U.K.

A former Russian minister and close associate of President Vladimir Putin received a 40-month prison sentence from a British court on Friday for violating U.K. sanctions, marking a historic ruling of this nature.

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, 48, was convicted earlier this week on six counts of evading sanctions linked to his involvement in Crimea, which is currently under Russian control. These violations occurred from February 2023 to January 2024.

Ovsiannikov previously held the position of deputy minister for industry in Moscow and became the mayor of Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, in 2016, two years after Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine.

In 2017, he was sanctioned by the European Union, a move later adopted by the U.K. post-Brexit. Although the EU lifted its sanctions in February 2023, those imposed by the U.K. are still active, preventing him from entering the country or accessing financial resources there.

Notwithstanding the sanctions, Ovsiannikov traveled from Russia to Turkey in 2022 and obtained a British passport by citing his father’s birthplace in the U.K. He then entered the U.K. in February 2023 to reunite with his wife and two children.

He was found guilty of sanctions violations for opening a U.K. bank account, receiving close to £80,000 (approximately $100,000) from his wife, and accepting a vehicle from his brother. The bank subsequently froze his account after identifying his name on the U.K. sanctions register.

During the hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London, Judge Sara Cockerill stated that Ovsiannikov would serve up to half of his sentence in prison before being released on probation.

His brother, Alexei Owsjanikow, 47, faced conviction on two counts of facilitating the breach of sanctions for paying over £40,000 in school fees for Ovsiannikov’s children. However, he was acquitted of three other charges, which included arranging car insurance and buying a Mercedes-Benz.

Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, Ovsiannikov’s wife, was found not guilty of all accusations.

The maximum sentence for violating U.K. sanctions against Russia is seven years imprisonment.