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A former Russian politician convicted of circumventing UK sanctions and money laundering has been jailed for 40 months in the first case of its kind.
Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, 48, once appointed by Vladimir Putin as governor of Sevastopol in Russian-annexed Crimea, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday after being convicted of six counts of sanctions breaches and two counts of money laundering this week.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a seventh sanctions charge.
His brother, Alexei Owsjanikow, 47, was also found guilty of two counts of circumventing sanctions and handed a 15-month suspended sentence, which means he will not serve any time in prison unless he commits another offence.
Casually dressed in jeans, in contrast to his smart attire during the trial, Ovsiannikov waved at his wife, Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, from the dock before he was taken away. Ovsiannikova, 47, was also prosecuted in the case but acquitted of all counts of sanctions breaches.
The prosecution was the first to be brought under the UK government’s Russia Regulations, sanctions legislation aimed at encouraging Russia to cease actions destabilising Ukraine.
All of the defendants were Russian nationals.
The case, which was investigated by the UK National Crime Agency and named Operation Rostroid, centred on Ovsiannikov’s status as a “designated person” on the UK sanctions list.
Designated persons have certain financial prohibitions on them in relation to funds that can be made available for their use in Britain.
However, within weeks of arriving in the UK in 2023, Ovsiannikov’s wife had transferred £76,000 to him and he had attempted to buy a £54,000 Mercedes-Benz.
While “the gains [of the sanctions breaches] were largely to the family day-to-day comfort . . . the purpose of the sanctions regime has to be considered”, said Mrs Justice Sara Cockerill in sentencing.
“[Ovsiannikov also] knowingly put his wife in a position where there was a risk that she would be investigated for and prosecuted for breaching sanctions,” the judge added.
Cockerill based her sentencing on the sanctions convictions and did not add any additional prison time for the money laundering offences.
A barrister for Ovsiannikov said “the entire family has been debanked”, including his older children, this week, following the outcome of the trial.
Ovsiannikov was on the school run when he was arrested in January 2024 and charged the same month. His brother was charged in March 2024.
Following the charges, Owsjanikow paid about £23,913 and £17,114 to cover private school fees for the younger two of his brother’s four children, who were pupils at the Royal Russell School in Surrey, which led to further charges being brought against him.
Owsjanikow was convicted by the jury for circumventing sanctions by making the school fee payments. He was acquitted on three other charges.
Ovsiannikov has been wearing an ankle bracelet and under a curfew while awaiting trial, which counts as a half day in custody and will reduce his time in prison by 217 days.
