Protesters occupying Oleg Deripaska mansion at Belgrave Square as Riot police enter. 00:58. Activists occupy sanctioned Russian ...
In a statement sent to the Guardian, the squatters said the invasion of Ukraine was the latest in a long line of human rights abuses by Putin’s government, including the bombing of Syria and mistreatment of LGBT people.“This mansion will serve as a centre for refugee support for Ukrainians and people of all nations and ethnicities,” they said.The squatters said they were invoking the spirit of Nestor Makhno, a Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary. Reporting like this is vital to establish the facts, who is lying and who is telling the truth. They said they would not leave the property willingly and planned to barricade themselves in if police or bailiffs tried to remove them.Before the group were arrested, a Metropolitan police spokesperson said: “Police were called shortly after 01:00hrs on Monday 14 March to a residential property in Belgrave Square, SW1. Officers attended and found that a number of people had gained entry and hung banners from upstairs windows. We know there is no substitute for being there – and we’ll stay on the ground, as we did during the 1917 revolution, the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, the collapse of 1991 and the first Russo-Ukrainian conflict in 2014. The squatters, who said they were opposed to Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and wanted to open the mansion up for Ukrainian refugees, got into the property owned by Oleg Deripaska around 1am on Monday morning.Dozens of police including officers from the Territorial Support Group and a climbing team spent hours trying to persuade them to come down from a balcony at the front of the building.The group refused police negotiators’ repeated attempts to “collect” them from the balcony using a crane, saying that they wanted to be treated in the same way as the prime minister. In 2017 a group occupied the mansion of Andrey Goncharenko in nearby Eaton Square, which they said they wanted to open as a homeless shelter. A police presence will remain at the scene.”The street had earlier been cordoned off and at least 10 police vehicles and dozens of officers were on the scene.Speaking to the PA news agency over the phone during the afternoon, one of the protesters, who refused to give his name but said he was from Lithuania, said: “All our group made peace with arrest because this was always one of the options. He has called on Putin to make peace with Ukraine. He was among seven Russian oligarchs put under UK government sanctions last week.Police at the scene in Belgravia. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The GuardianThe squatters also criticised UK banks and parts of the establishment that they say have allowed oligarchs to launder their billions in London.They declined to say how they got into Deripaska’s property but said “it required climbing skills” and “squatters’ magic.”“This is not ordinary squatting, this is property liberation,” one of the squatters said. Referencing the “partygate” inquiry, they said they wanted to be sent a questionnaire to ascertain whether they had done anything wrong rather than being arrested.But on Monday evening they left the balcony.A spokesperson for Westminster police said: “The four people protesting on the balcony of a building in Belgrave Square have come down and been arrested. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the global events shaping our world, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. I’m ready to take the consequences for something I believe.” The protesters said they felt their countries were also under threat from Putin. They said they wanted to open up the mansion – which they said “has too many rooms to count,” including a cinema and a wine cellar – to Ukrainians fleeing the war, along with other refugees needing shelter.In a message to Russian oligarchs, the squatters said: “You occupy Ukraine, we occupy you.”This part of London has been nicknamed “oligarchs’ quarter” because so many wealthy Russians have bought properties in the area, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace.Earlier, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called on the government to take action and use Russian oligarchs’ empty residences to house Ukrainian refugees.He said he was “surprised” by the police response to the squatters.“I’m unclear what the police were responding to because we know no one’s living there,” he told LBC’s Tonight With Andrew Marr programme.“But I’m not sure if there were concerns about any crimes being done to any neighbouring properties, so those are the questions.”Khan said that he was likely to bring up the police response with the Metropolitan police hierarchy.He added: “One of my concerns is, we’ve had a number of weeks now to seize those homes, to allow them to be used by refugees. The four protesters who occupied the home of a Russian oligarch in London’s Belgravia have ended their demonstration and have been arrested by police.
Footage filmed by pro-Ukraine protesters after they invaded Putin crony's seven-bedroom London 'crash pad'; It shows thousands of pounds worth of antiques ...
The industrialist who made his fortune in metals has been dogged by controversy for many years.
Despite his business success, controversy has dogged Mr Deripaska for many years. “Deripaska has been investigated for money laundering, and has been accused of threatening the lives of business rivals, illegally wiretapping a government official, and taking part in extortion and racketeering. “There are also allegations that Deripaska bribed a government official, ordered the murder of a businessman, and had links to a Russian organised crime group.” “He has also acknowledged possessing a Russian diplomatic passport, and claims to have represented the Russian government in other countries,” the press release added. In 2018, he was among a group of seven oligarchs sanctioned by the US government due to their alleged involvement in; attempts to interfere in the US elections, violence in Ukraine, supplying weapons to the Assad regime in Syria and cyber crimes. Mr Deripaska was said to be the biggest winner of the so-called “aluminium wars” in the 1990s when the sell-off of state assets sparked fierce and bloody competition.
Protesters waving the Ukrainian flag take over the property, saying they want it to house those fleeing the Ukraine war.
One of those inside the mansion told AFP news agency earlier by telephone: “We are a property liberation front. Four people who had gained entry to the building’s balcony “have come down and been arrested”, police said, adding that they would maintain a presence after ending the protest. That’s what we do. Protesters waving the Ukrainian flag take over the property, saying they want it to house those fleeing the Ukraine war. “The group that took over the seven-bedroom property said they want to give it over to Ukrainian refugees,” Gallego said. Protesters waving the Ukrainian flag take over the property, saying they want it to house those fleeing the Ukraine war.
The European Union has not followed Britain's lead in hitting Oleg Deripaska with sanctions, amid internal splits over the economic consequences of freezing ...
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Deripaska, a 54-year-old industrialist who founded the aluminium giant Rusal, was added to the UK government's sanctions list on 10 March following Russia's ...
We have been doing a job the government should do. We have liberated the property for refugees," he added. His wealth is estimated to be £2.3bn and he has a multimillion-pound property portfolio in the UK. The Metropolitan Police said: "Police have detained two people who attempted to breach a police cordon close to the building where a protest remains ongoing in Belgrave Square, W1." A Scotland Yard spokesperson said officers completed a search of the property early in the afternoon and found no protesters inside. However, a spokesman for the billionaire said the property belongs to family members and not him.
Riot police arrived after protesters entered the building and unfurled banners on the balcony, including one reading "This property has been liberated.
Deripaska has stakes in EN+ Group, a major extractives and energy company that owns UC Rusal, one of the world's biggest aluminum producers. Reuters reports that London High Court documents from 2007 identified Deripaska as the beneficial owner of the Belgrave Square mansion. "Officers have completed a search of the property in Belgrave Square and are satisfied there are no protestors inside," the department said two hours later. Westminster Police said on Twitter that officers arrived at the property around 1 a.m. local time after being called and made contact with "a small number of people inside." Riot police arrived at the luxury property in Belgrave Square on Monday after squatters entered the mansion and covered it with flags. "By occupying this mansion, we want to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but also the people of Russia who never agreed to this madness," they said in a statement reported by Reuters and other outlets.
Squatters say home 'belongs to Ukrainian refugees' but police evicted them.
The 17-hour incident has come to an end after protesters sat on the balcony of the Belgrave Square property declaring it “belongs to Ukrainian refugees”.
At least five squatters broke into the Belgravia property early this morning, declaring that it 'belongs to Ukrainian refugees'
We have to join together to fight injustice.” Two officers in red helmets reached the next door property’s balcony by crane, but were met with a barricade fashioned from potted bushes. He also has a multi-million pound property portfolio in the UK. The British Government is not doing enough; they are very soft on oligarchs. One protestor said: “We don’t care if we are arrested. “I would say to the protestors thank you for your support, you have been very courageous and I know you may face consequences because of it, but thank you for being there.” The protestors entered the property in Belgravia Square early on Monday morning, declaring that it “belongs to Ukrainian refugees” and hanging a banner from its balcony that reads: “This property has been liberated.” “I feel that if someone was being shelled in the night and woke up in the morning to see we had taken one of their oppressor’s buildings and liberated it for them it could maybe give them some heart. A spokesperson for the oligarch said he was “appalled at the negligence of Britain’s justice system”. One protestor, a man with long hair, shouted: “We want to use this property as shelter for refugees because the government has failed Ukrainian refugees and refugees from all wars.” The Met said on Monday evening it had arrested four people “who gained entry to the balcony of a building” under a 2012 anti-squatting law that prohibits “trespassing” in residential buildings or “living there for any period”. The force said: “Officers completed a search of the property and are satisfied there are no people left inside.”
Squatters have occupied a London mansion thought to belong to one of the Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the British government.
I want to explore an option which would allow us to use the homes and properties of sanctioned individuals for as long as they are sanctioned for humanitarian and other purposes," he told the BBC. They added that they "continue to engage" with those on the balcony.Ownership details of the multimillion-pound, historic property at Five Belgrave Square are murky. The property in Belgrave Square — one of London's most exclusive neighborhoods, located just moments from Buckingham Palace — is said to be owned by billionaire energy mogul Oleg Deripaska, who was sanctioned by authorities last week over his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Protesters took occupation of the luxury property early Monday, draping it with Ukrainian flags and a sign saying "this property has been liberated."
Activists broke into 5 Belgrave Square at midnight before hanging Ukraine flag and banner attacking Putin; Mansion belongs to family of Oleg Deripaska, ...
"This property has been liberated," read a banner unfurled by activists on the roof of the huge house in London's exclusive Belgravia neighborhood.
Come on, it's ridiculous," one said. It's not really squatting, it's liberating." The U. S. Treasury designated Deripaska in 2018 as part of moves against a number of Russian oligarchs and the companies they own or control, Russian officials and businesses. That's what we do. U. K. law closes loopholes used by Russian oligarchs to buy property with shell companies U. K. law closes loopholes used by Russian oligarchs to buy property with shell companies
Oleg Deripaska is a Russian oligarch who this week had his mansion briefly seized by people protesting the war in Ukraine.
He is listed as the 775th richest person in the world. He is the founder of Basic Element, one of Russia’s largest industrial groups, and Volnoe Delo, Russia’s largest charitable foundation. But just who is Oleg Deripraska, and how much is the London mansion worth?
Activists broke into 5 Belgrave Square at midnight before hanging Ukraine flag and banner attacking Putin; Mansion belongs to family of Oleg Deripaska, ...