Lammy to meet Navalny’s widow as UK announces further Russian sanctions

David Lammy will meet the widow of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny on Friday as the UK announces further sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK would “keep up the pressure on Putin” with sanctions on three men involved in Russia’s defence ministry and extractives industry.

Russian deputy defence minister Pavel Fradkov and mining company owner Artem Chaika will now face asset freezes and travel bans, as will Vladimir Selin, head of Russia’s federal service for technical and export control, a branch of its defence ministry.

The men are all included in the “Navalny 50” anti-corruption list, named after Mr Navalny who died in a Russian prison on February 16 last year.

Mr Lammy said: “Nearly a year on from the death of Alexei Navalny, I am honoured to meet with Yulia Navalnaya and make clear our commitment to weaken Putin’s attempts to stifle political opposition and crack down on the Kremlin’s corrupt dealings globally.

“We are calling on our friends and allies to continue to step up in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.”

The Foreign Secretary’s meeting with Mrs Navalnaya comes at the start of the Munich Security Conference, where global leaders are expected to discuss continued support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

But the conference is likely to be overshadowed by concerns about the United States’ ongoing commitment to both the defence of Ukraine and European security following Donald Trump’s call with Mr Putin on Wednesday.

Along with the three men sanctioned on Friday, the Foreign Office has sanctioned Kirov Energomash Plant and Rosatom Additive Technologies, subsidiaries of Russian state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom that also work in the defence sector.

The UK has also varied the sanctions that were applied to Mr Chaika’s father and Russian security council member, Yuri Chaika, in 2022.