Roman Abramovich warned ‘time is operating out’ at hand over Chelsea sale billions to Ukraine amid UK-Russia row over ‘frog poison’ homicide of opposition chief Navalny
Former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was today warned ‘time is running out’ for him to hand over £2.5billion from the sale of the football club to Ukraine before it’s taken out of his hands.
Yvette Cooper lashed out at the sanctioned oligarch amid a deepening Anglo-Russian row over the murder of the former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The Kremlin has been accused by Britain and its allies of using a rare arrow frog poison to kill the dissident in prison in 2024.
Mr Abramovich was told in December that ministers would take legal action if he failed to hand over money made from selling the West London football team.
He agreed to transfer the cash – earmarked for humanitarian causes – after selling the Premier League side when he was sanctioned three years ago following Putin‘s bloody invasion.
But he has so far failed to reach an agreement with the Government on a way forward and the funds remain frozen in a bank account.
On a round of TV interviews today Ms Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, faced questions about when the legal action might kick in.
‘We said that we would give him time to comply. That is following the proper process and time is running out for him,’ she said.
Yvette Cooper lashed out at the oligarch today amid a deepening Anglo-Russian row over the murder of the former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Mr Abramovich was told in December that ministers would take legal action if he failed to hand over money made from selling the West London football team.
The Kremlin has been accused by Britain and its allies of using a rare Amazonian frog poison to kill Navalny in prison in 2024.
She added: ‘He should do this because this is money that he holds from the sale of Chelsea.
‘And we know that this has been a huge benefit as a result of the Russian regime. And we think that money needs to go for the people of Ukraine.
‘He has got this final chance. Now the clock is ticking on him.’
Analysis of samples from Mr Navalny’s body revealed the presence of a toxin called Epibatidine – which is produced by wild dart frogs in South America.
The UK and its allies said there was no innocent explanation for it being there, as it is not found in Russia, and is generally only produced by the frogs in the wild.
The five European nations who called out Russia for using the toxin – The UK plus Sweden, France, Germany and the Netherlands – have already reported the Kremlin to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons after accusing Moscow of breaching its conventions.
Ms Cooper suggested further sanctions could follow, telling the BBC: ‘We continue to look at co-ordinated action, including increasing sanctions on the Russian regime.
The Russian embassy in London has denied Moscow was involved in Mr Navalny’s death and described the announcement as ‘feeble-mindedness of Western fabulists’.
Elsewhere, senior Conservative Dame Priti Patel warned of an ‘axis of authoritarianism’ faced by the UK and other Western nations.
The shadow foreign secretary spoke to Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips ahead of making a speech at the Munich Security Conference.
She told the broadcaster: ‘We face major challenges on the axis of authoritarianism – that is Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.’
The USA remains a ‘natural ally’ and a ‘partner’ for European powers, Dame Priti added.
