Former Sevastopol Governor Arrested at Home in London

Former Sevastopol governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov has been arrested at his home in London. This was reported by The Times.

Ovsyannikov is currently in a London prison. The BBC's Russian service notes that this is unusual, as those arrested for non-violent crimes are typically released on bail.

His court hearing is set for February 20. He is accused of circumventing sanctions and opening an account at a London bank, as well as making four payments totaling £65,000 and holding £77,500 in cash.

Great Britain imposed sanctions against Ovsyannikov and froze his assets at the end of 2020. In 2023, a European Union court ruled to remove his name from the EU sanctions list, explaining that he no longer holds the positions for which the sanctions were applied. However, Ovsyannikov's name has not been removed from the UK's sanctions list.

Ovsyannikov served as the governor of Sevastopol from 2017 to 2019. Before and after, he held the position of Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia. He was dismissed from his position in 2020 due to inappropriate behavior at the Izhevsk airport.