The noose has now also tightened for Alisher Usmanov in Great Britain.

The London Foreign Office put him on the sanctions list after he had previously been subject to EU sanctions.

His assets in Great Britain are frozen, i.e. confiscated for the time being.

It's a heavy blow for the Uzbek-Russian billionaire, who grew rich from oil deals and his telecoms company, as he owns quite a few things on the island, most notably two important castle-like mansions.

Philip Pickert

Business correspondent based in London.

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South of London he owns Sutton Place from the 16th century, which he renovated at great expense.

In the Highgate area of ​​north London, he lives in Beechwood House, a property he bought in 2008 for £48million.

Usmanow became nationally known as a temporary major shareholder in Arsenal FC.

He is currently one of the sponsors of Everton FC.

His possessions have now been "frozen," the State Department said on Thursday evening.

It is not known whether the government has already confiscated the keys to his property.

The London government has come under increasing pressure this week to crack down on domestic oligarchs.

EU Vice-President Frans Timmermans said in a BBC interview that the Johnson government must change course and should no longer accept donations from Russians.

The government is controversial about how to deal with the prominent Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea FC.

Labor opposition urges immediate sanctions.

According to media reports, the government is hesitating.

Any sanction must be "legally robust", stressed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, a minister at the Foreign Office.

The Times reported that the ministry was struggling to establish a link between Abramovich's finances and President Putin.

Sanctions could therefore last for weeks.

Abramovich is currently trying to sell his luxury real estate and Chelsea FC in a hurry.

The club's "net proceeds" are to go to a foundation in aid of victims of the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Culture and Sport Minister Nadine Dorries said in the House of Commons that football had "tolerated investments by Russian kleptocrats for far too long".