UK tightens sanctions on Russian elites
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(NewsNation) — The United Kingdom has announced 65 new sanctions intended to “cut off vital industries fueling Putin’s war machine.”
There are people high in Russian society targeted by these sanctions, the rich and powerful who hold a lot of mysterious wealth. Among them is Polina Kovaleva, 26, stepdaughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Lavrov has a wife and another daughter, but he’s been in a well-documented relationship with his mistress, Svetlana Polyakova, Polina’s mother, since the early 2000s. Polyakova is listed as a diplomat and even travels in an official plane.
For Kovaleva, though, the high life, which she describes as a “non-stop holiday” on her Instagram feed, is coming to a screeching halt, at least in the U.K. Her assets have been frozen, and new measures block her from traveling to and from the U.K., where she bought an apartment for $5.8 million at the age of 21, while earning a degree in economics with politics at Loughborough University. She moved on to post-graduate studies at prestigious Imperial College London, earning a master’s degree in economics and strategy for business.
She parlayed that education into positions with Russian energy giant Gazprom and multinational mining conglomerate Glencore. That doesn’t explain the true source of her wealth, though, which doesn’t add up to British authorities. U.K. authorities said in a statement they see Kovaleva’s wealth as a prime example of “untraceable wealth,” ill-gotten gains prime for seizure.
According to a U.K. government statement, “There are reasonable grounds to suspect that POLINA KOVALEVA, hereafter KOVALEVA, is associated with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov (“Lavrov”) through her mother’s relationship with him.”
In other Russian socialite news, Russia’s youngest billionaire, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former son-in-law Kirill Shalamov is raising eyebrows internationally. Shalamov flew to Dubai for a lavish 40th birthday celebration. Amid sanctions and crackdowns and financial instability, it’s a bad look. He was formerly married to Katerina Tikhonova, Putin’s daughter.
