A Russian politician, appointed by President Vladimir Putin as the governor of Sevastopol, the largest city in the Russian-annexed Crimea, faced trial in London on Tuesday. He is charged with violating British sanctions, marking the first case of its kind.
Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who took on the role of governor in July 2016—two years after Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine—is accused of attempting to evade sanctions from February 2023 to January 2024.
The 48-year-old allegedly opened a bank account and had his wife, Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, 47, deposit £76,000 (approximately $98,600) into it, part of which was intended for the purchase of a Mercedes-Benz SUV.
Prosecutors claim that Ovsiannikov then enlisted his brother, Alexei Owsjanikow, 47, to buy the vehicle and its insurance. Subsequently, Owsjanikow reportedly paid over £41,000 for the private school fees of Ovsiannikov’s children.
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Ovsiannikov faces seven charges for evading sanctions and two charges for possessing or utilizing criminal property. His brother, Owsjanikow, and his wife, Ovsiannikova, are charged with five and four counts of sanction evasion, respectively.
All three individuals have pleaded not guilty, and their trial commenced on Tuesday at Southwark Crown Court. Prosecutor Paul Jarvis highlighted the strategic importance of Sevastopol in relation to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
In 2017, Ovsiannikov was elected as the governor of Sevastopol, shortly after which the European Union imposed sanctions against him, citing his actions as a threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty, according to Jarvis.
After the United Kingdom’s official departure from the EU, Ovsiannikov was sanctioned in December 2020 under new domestic legislation.
In 2022, he successfully contested the EU sanctions, and in 2023, he requested that the UK’s Foreign Office lift his sanctions, a move Jarvis deemed noteworthy.
“He would not have sought to revoke his designation under domestic law unless he was aware of it,” Jarvis explained to the jury. “If he was aware, then his wife and brother must have been as well.”
Jarvis further stated that the defendants claimed they were either unaware of Ovsiannikov’s sanctioned status or did not understand that the assistance they provided was prohibited.
He instructed the jurors to determine what the defendants knew and comprehended regarding Ovsiannikov’s position under the UK’s Russian sanctions framework.
The National Crime Agency noted that Ovsiannikov was the first individual charged in the UK for violating sanctions related to Russia when he was charged last year.
The trial is expected to conclude next week.
