Former Sevastopol gauleiter Ovsyannikov, detained in London, released on bail - media

The former Russian governor of the annexed Sevastopol, Dmitry Ovsyannikov, who was detained in the UK on suspicion of violating sanctions legislation, has been released on bail. This is reported by the Russian TASS with reference to the judge of the Royal Court of Suthercourt in London, UNN reports.

According to The Times, the former official was detained at his London home. He is suspected of circumventing sanctions and opening a London bank account, as well as making four payments totaling 65 thousand pounds and keeping 77.5 thousand pounds in cash, The Insider reported.

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The UK imposed sanctions on Ovsiannikov at the end of 2020. His assets were frozen. In March 2022, a ban on the use of trust services was added.

In 2017, the European Union also sanctioned Ovsiannikov for "actions that threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine." But in the fall of 2022, a few months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he managed to get the restrictions lifted. He stated that he had not held public office for a long time and was suffering "real losses" due to the sanctions, including the inability to do business in the European Union.

 In 2023 , Ovsyannikov was removed from the EU sanctions list by a decision of the EU court. The court reasoned that the official no longer holds the positions for which he was sanctioned.

He was not removed from the British sanctions list.

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ovsyannikov headed the temporarily occupied Sevastopol from 2017 to 2019. Before and after that, he was the Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. In 2020, he was removed from his post and dismissed from the government. According to the media, the reason was a scandal with indecent behavior at one of the Russian airports. An administrative report was drawn up against him and he was fined, and later he was removed from his post as deputy minister and expelled from the ruling party.