Everton FC’s Russian bankroller Alisher Usmanov to be hit in fresh round of British sanctions

EVERTON FC's Russian bankroller Alisher Usmanov is being sanctioned by Britain, the Foreign Office will announce tonight.

The billionaire oligarch is one of two alleged Kremlin cronies to be stung in a fresh round of asset freezes.

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For years his firm has sponsored Everton's training ground and he had exclusive naming rights on the club's new stadium.

Former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov, the chairman of Vnesheconombank, was also sanctioned last night - with the two worth a combined $19bn.

Their assets have been frozen, the pair have been hit with travel bans, and no British citizen or business can deal with them.

No10 had earlier denied they were holding back over sanctioning individuals over fears of being hit with legal challenges.

And they said Britain was leading on the international package of sanctions as a whole.

Sir Keir Starmer yesterday demanded Boris Johnson target the Kremlin-linked oligarch at PMQs.

Pointing out he lived only a few minutes walk away, he said he was among a group who have "dipped their hands in the blood of Putin's war."

The Foreign Office has been under huge pressure to sanction Usmanov, 68, following Vladimir Putin's bloody invasion of Ukraine.

The EU has already sanctioned the "pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to [the] Russian president".

He owns significant property in London and Surrey.

Yesterday Everton cut ties with Usmanov's companies, hitting out at the "appalling events unfolding in Ukraine".

A statement said: "The club can confirm that it has suspended with immediate effect all commercial sponsorship arrangements with the Russian companies USM, MegaFon and Yota."

Usmanov owns Beechwood House in Highgate, worth an estimated £48m, and the 16th century Sutton Place estate in Surrey.

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Igor Shuvalov’s assets in the UK include two luxury apartments in central London worth an estimated £11m.

The Foreign Office said he was a "core part of Putin’s inner circle, and headed up Russia’s bid for the 2018 Football World Cup."

The Foreign Secretary will also establish an Oligarch Taskforce of Ministers to clamp down on the rogue agents.

Liz Truss said last night: "Our message to Putin and his allies has been clear from day one - invading Ukraine would have serious and crippling economic consequences.

"Sanctioning Usmanov and Shuvalov sends a clear message that we will hit oligarchs and individuals closely associated with the Putin regime and his barbarous war.

"We won’t stop here. Our aim is to cripple the Russian economy and starve Putin’s war machine."

It comes after France said earlier it had seized a superyacht owned by Russia's oil czar Igor Sechin.

The estimated $120-million vessel "Amore Vero" was seized while undergoing maintenance work at a shipyard at La Ciotat on the French Riviera, a popular summer playground for the super-rich.

"French customs carried out the seizure of the yacht Amore Vero in La Ciotat as part of the implementation of sanctions by the European Union against Russia," a statement for the French finance ministry said.

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German authorities denied a report in Forbes magazine that they had seized the "Dilbar" yacht, belonging to billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov, in the port of Hamburg.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovic - who yesterday put the club on the market - is not yet being sanctioned.