Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, under UK and EU sanction, was on the plane to bring back five captured British in Ukraine and is said to have played a “key role” in their release, according to daily testimony from one. of them The sun this Friday.
John Harding, one of five Britons freed from Moscow in a prisoner exchange with Kiev, says the Russian billionaire, former owner of London football club Chelsea, introduced himself to one of the former prisoners, Shaun Pinner, on the plane that took them there. brought from From Russia to Saudi Arabia.
British sanctions
Shaun Pinner “told him” He looks a lot like Roman Abramovich, “and he replied” It’s because it’s me, “says John Harding. He adds that on his side he exchanged with the oligarch’s assistant, who assured him that the latter had played a “key role” in the release of the five prisoners.
Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the British government since March 10, with Downing Street claiming to have evidence of his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who on February 24 ordered his army to invade Ukraine. He is also on the list of personalities sanctioned by the European Union.
Freedom contested by Roman Abramovich
Also according to John Harding, Shaun Pinner “talked at length with him (Abramovich) about football” during the trip. The five Britons – John Harding, Shaun Pinner, Aiden Aslin, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill – were released as part of an exchange of 10 prisoners of war, facilitated by Saudi mediation.
The first two had been sentenced to death, along with the Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, also involved in the exchange of prisoners, for mercenary – a disputed charge – by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Last month, Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, currently in prison, called for the systematic punishment of all oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin or who support war in Ukraine. In particular, he regretted that Roman Abramovich still escapes American sanctions today, while some of his companies “continue to supply metal to the Russian Defense Ministry”.
–
