Vast London estates owned by Russian billionaire oligarchs look like in pristine condition, despite Britain imposing sanctions on jetliners last yr.
In 2022, after Moscow launched a bloody invasion of Ukraine, Britain imposed travel bans on Russian oligarchs and froze their assets, including $2 billion in real estate, in an try and put pressure on those related to President Vladimir Putin.
“We goal the oligarchs’ private jets, we’ll attack their properties, we’ll attack other property they own,” said then Foreign Minister Liz Truss.
But photos taken by The Day by day Mail reveals many of these coveted properties look like in as good shape as ever, despite government financial commitments.
With none of the properties actually taken over by the federal government, London was forced to permit some of these billionaires to make use of their very own money to administer property maintenance or collect the bill themselves, the Mail reported.
![Vladimir Putin](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000010020829.jpg?w=867)
![Witanhurst](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000010020717.jpg?w=1024)
“Other countries, akin to Canada, are asserting serious laws to not only freeze but seize these assets,” said Labor MP Liam Byrne.
“The federal government appears to be extremely relaxed about those individuals who go about their normal business. It’s extraordinary.”
Witanhurst, which has 25 bedrooms and a gold-ceilinged ballroom, looks stunning despite the absence of its Putin-linked owner, Andrei Guriyev, who founded Europe’s largest producer of phosphate fertilizers, PhosAgro.
Considered the second largest private residence after Buckingham Palace, the Highgate estate, which Guryev bought for $373 million from the family of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, now has striped lawns, blooming flowerbeds and even a recently dug and… vegetable plot.
![witanhurst gate](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000005962937.jpg?w=1024)
![Putin and metallurgical magnate Alisher Usmanov, right](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000005962914.jpg?w=1024)
![beech](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000010021064.jpg?w=1024)
Sutton Place, which was swept away for $37.3 million by metal mogul Alisher Usmanov – who is alleged to “loose [Putin’s] business problems” – in the photos it appears to be under construction. Still, the sprawling Surrey estate offers a clean swimming pool and green landscape, in addition to several libraries.
Usmanov’s other estate, the $112 million Beechwood House in Highgate, also appears to be well maintained despite being owned by MIA.
Amongst the outside features present are well-trimmed hedges and spring flowers surrounding the turning radius.