UK sanctions target Putin’s daughters’ ‘lavish lifestyles’

The lavish lifestyles of the Kremlin’s inner circle will be further targeted from today as the UK sanctions the daughters of president Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova, the daughters of president Putin, and Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vinokurova, daughter of foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, will be subject to travel bans and asset freezes.

The UK has coordinated these sanctions with the US. This follows the UK’s sanctioning of Polina Kovaleva, Sergey Lavrov’s step-daughter on 25 March.

These designations come into force as new analysis shows the devastating impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia’s economy in recent weeks. The government says UK sanctions and those of its international partners are having deep and damaging consequences for Putin’s ability to wage war, with £275 billion – 60 per cent of Russian foreign currency reserves – currently frozen.

The analysis shows Russia is heading for the deepest recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as estimates for Russia’s GDP growth in 2022 now range from -8.5 per cent to -15 per cent. Longer term, expert predictions suggest a continuing economic hit, with GDP growth depressed as the country is cut off from Western technology.

The Kremlin faces tough choices at home as a result of its aggression abroad. Sanctions imposed in response to Putin’s abhorrent actions have triggered rapid inflation, with average consumer prices up 8.67 per cent since the invasion.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss said: “Our unprecedented package of sanctions is hitting the elite and their families, while degrading the Russian economy on a scale Russia hasn’t seen since the fall of the Soviet Union.

“But we need to do more. Through the G7, we are working with partners to end the use of Russian energy and further hit Putin’s ability to fund his illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine.”