Putin propagandist information host has British house and citizenship | Russia

One particular of Russia’s most preferred television information presenters, who has been accused of currently being a propagandist for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has British citizenship and a household flat in west London.

Sergei Brilev has been reporting on the war in Ukraine on the state-managed Rossiya 1, which tightly follows the Kremlin’s messaging. The channel describes the war as a “special armed forces operation” introduced to protect Ukrainian citizens from “abuse and genocide”.

British federal government ministers are coming underneath strain to impose sanctions on Brilev. The Labour MP Stephen Kinnock requested in parliament for the House Workplace to “take measures to strip [him] of his British citizenship, ban him from the United kingdom and freeze his United kingdom assets”. The Home Business office reported very last week it would not comment on individual instances.

Kinnock said: “It looks to me there is clear evidence that Sergei Brilev is a propagandist for the Kremlin and plays an essential purpose in supporting Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine.

“The British govt must perform a comprehensive and complete investigation into Mr Brilev in purchase to decide irrespective of whether he must be sanctioned. Offered the information and facts I have seen, it would seem the situation is obvious that he need to be targeted for sanctions.”

Other Russian television anchors have presently faced sanctions by the EU over the condition-backed disinformation about the Ukraine invasion.

Olga Skabeyeva, 37, a talkshow host on Rossiya 1, was place below sanction by the EU previous month, accused of spreading “anti-Ukrainian propaganda”. A further presenter on the channel, Vladimir Solovyov, 58, has also been the target of EU sanctions. It has been noted that two villas owned by him at Lake Como in Italy, truly worth €8m (£6.7m), have been sequestered by the authorities.

Brilev is 1 of Russia’s finest-acknowledged broadcasters. He was the official co-commentator for Putin’s presidential inauguration in 2018, when he was accused of failing to report on protests and detentions relating to the ceremony. He is also a member of the Russian international affairs council, co-started by the Russian ministry of international affairs and presided over by the minister of foreign affairs, Sergei Lavrov.

Brilev worked in London as a correspondent from 1996 to 2001. His interviewees have bundled Putin, Barack Obama and David Cameron.

An investigation by the now jailed Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny in November 2018 unveiled he was on the electoral roll in Britain and his spouse owned a flat in Chiswick, west London, purchased for £700,000 in March 2016.

The presenter verified the statements on Facebook, creating: “My initially British residence allow and 2nd citizenship is a truth my companies know extremely perfectly …

“As for property in London, it was acquired by way of resources whose resources are transparent and properly regarded to the suitable economical and tax authorities.”

Land Registry data examined by the Observer previous 7 days discovered that Brilev’s spouse, Irina, continue to owns the home. She is also a shareholder in the management firm for the block in Chiswick.

Many western journalists have been compelled to pull out of Russia since of a new law passed earlier this thirty day period carrying jail terms of up to 15 several years for spreading “fake news”. Rossiya 1 has mainly broadcast the Kremlin’s see of the Ukraine conflict, reporting that the “special operation” has been going as prepared.

Brilev did not react to a request for comment.