Night Customary proprietor who hosted Boris Johnson at lavish events sanctioned by Ukraine over Putin’s battle

Ukraine has sanctioned Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, as a part of a wave of sanctions geared toward people alleged to be supportive of Russia’s battle in opposition to Ukraine.

Lebedev, who has not been sanctioned by the UK, has additionally been sanctioned by Canada. He has beforehand thrown lavish events for Boris Johnson in London and at a villa in Umbria. It was reported by the Guardian {that a} day after his election win in 2019, Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds dropped right into a caviar-fuelled Christmas occasion in London hosted by former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny.

The Russian oligarch purchased the Night Customary and Impartial newspapers greater than a decade in the past.

The choice by Ukraine to formally affirm that Lebedev has been placed on its sanctions listing will result in additional scrutiny of the UK authorities’s relationship with the media tycoon.

Regardless of the Canadian authorities figuring out Lebedev as a key member of ‘President Putin’s interior circle’, Johnson final 12 months refused to place him on the UK’s sanctions listing.

Johnson additionally ennobled Alexander’s son Evgeny in 2020, regardless of warnings by the UK’s safety providers.

It was reported that MI6 initially suggested in opposition to Lebedev’s appointment attributable to considerations about Alexander Lebedev’s suspected hyperlinks to Putin.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Ahead

The put up Evening Standard owner who hosted Boris Johnson at lavish parties sanctioned by Ukraine over Putin’s war appeared first on Left Foot Forward: Leading the UK's progressive debate.