As the sanctions against Russia begin to bite, some billionaires have broken ranks with the Kremlin and called for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Oligarch Mikhail Fridman has been one of the first to question Vladimir Putin in public, saying he wished for the bloodshed to end.
Mr Fridman, who is reported to be one of the top ten richest Russians. said: "My parents are Ukrainian citizens and live in Lviv, my favourite city. But I have also spent much of my life as a citizen of Russia, building and growing businesses. I am deeply attached to Ukrainian and Russian peoples and see the current conflict as a tragedy for them both. This crisis will cost lives and damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years. While a solution seems frighteningly far off, I can only join those whose fervent desire is for the bloodshed to end."
Meanwhile, Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of the Silverado policy Accelerator think tank, says there is a "small chance" of a "palace coup" but warned it remains a possibility. Mr Alperovitch told Spectator TV: "I think the chance of it is not likely, but it is no longer zero. If you'd asked me two or three weeks ago what is the likelihood that Putin will be ousted in a palace coup I would have said zero. Today it is no longer that. I think it is precisely because the sanctions have been so severe, and the diplomatic isolation which cannot be underestimated.
"This is rapidly turning Russia into a North Korea-style pariah state. So, when you look at the elites, people who have enriched themselves over decades, that have bought properties, yachts – they are also realising those sanctions won't get removed while Putin is in power. It is not out of the realms of possibility, small chance, but not zero, that someone will say 'we've had enough, it's time to step aside.'"
Kremlin warns the West not to send arms to Ukraine
The Kremlin has warned the West it must understand the 'danger' of sending arms to Ukraine. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the European Union and other countries of violating their "so-called principles and values" by backing the supply of 'deadly weapons', reports The Telegraph.
Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, failed to agree on a 24-hour ceasefire during talks in Turkey. Lavrov also said he did not believe the conflict would spiral into a nuclear war but cautioned the United States and Europe that Moscow never again wanted to be dependent on the West.
Asked by a Kremlin correspondent for Russia's Kommersant newspaper if he thought a nuclear war could be triggered, Lavrov told reporters in Turkey: "I don't want to believe it, and I do not believe it." Lavrov, President Vladimir Putin's foreign minister since 2004, said the nuclear theme had been thrown into discussions only by the West, which he said kept on returning to nuclear war like Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.
Three dead as Russia hits hospital in 'war crime'
An airstrike on a hospital in the port city of Mariupol has killed three people, including a six-year-old child, the city’s council said as Russian forces intensified their siege of Ukrainian cities. Ukraine's president said Russia is trying to make his people feel 'like animals' by cutting off access to medical help and food.
He called the attack on hospitals in his country 'an atrocity'. The attack in the besieged southern port city wounded 17 people, including women waiting to give birth, doctors, and children buried in the rubble. Bombs also fell on two hospitals in another city west of the capital.
Russia has denied it has bombed the children's hospital, saying such claims were "fake news", according to Sky News. Moscow claimed was formerly a maternity hospital that had been taken over by troops. "That's how fake news is born," tweeted Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.
Abramovich sale of Chelsea stopped by UK sanctions
Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK for his links to Vladimir Putin. Described as a pro-Kremlin oligarch, Mr Abramovich was hit with an asset freeze and a travel ban in an updated sanctions list published on Thursday after ministers came under sustained pressure to target him.
The Government document says he has had a “close relationship for decades” with the Russian President. “This association has included obtaining a financial benefit or other material benefit from Putin and the Government of Russia,” it says. Abramovich has owned Chelsea since 2003 and has always staunchly denied any current political links to Russia’s ruling elite, but Boris Johnson’s Government has now frozen all his UK assets. The move freezes the Russian-Israeli billionaire’s planned sale of Chelsea.
Patel reveals simplified visa scheme for refugees
A new streamlined approach for Ukrainians to come to the UK will be in operation from Tuesday, Home Secretary Priti Patel told MPs. Ms Patel said she had received assurances on security matters which enabled her to make changes to the Ukrainian family scheme, telling the Commons: “From Tuesday, I can announce that Ukrainians with passports will no longer need to go to a visa application centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.
“Instead, once their application has been considered and appropriate checks completed, they will receive direct notification that they’re eligible for the scheme and can come to the UK. In short, Ukrainians with passports will be able to get permission to come here fully online from wherever they are and will be able to give their biometrics once in Britain. This will mean that visa application centres across Europe can focus their efforts on helping Ukrainians without passports.”
