Former Putin-appointed governor in Crimea found guilty of breaching UK sanctions

LONDON (Reuters) - A Russian politician appointed by President Vladimir Putin as governor of Russia-annexed Crimea's largest city was on Wednesday found guilty of breaching British sanctions, after the first prosecution of its kind.

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov – who was appointed governor of Sevastopol in July 2016, two years after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine – was charged with trying to circumvent sanctions between February 2023 and January 2024.

Ovsiannikov was found guilty of six counts of circumventing sanctions and two counts of possessing or using criminal property. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a seventh charge of circumventing sanctions.

The 48-year-old, who had denied all the charges, will be sentenced at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

Ovsiannikov had been accused of getting his wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, 47, to pay 76,000 pounds ($97,000) into his account, some of which was so he could buy a Mercedes-Benz SUV.

Prosecutors said Ovsiannikov then got his 47-year-old brother Alexei Owsjanikow to buy the car and insurance for it, before Owsjanikow later paid just over 41,000 pounds for his brother's children's private school fees.

Owsjanikow and Ovsiannikova faced five and four counts of circumventing sanctions respectively, which they denied.

The jury found Owsjanikow guilty of two counts of circumventing sanctions, in relation to the school fees, but he was acquitted in relation to the car and insurance.

Ovsiannikova was cleared of all charges.

When Ovsiannikov was charged last year, the National Crime Agency said he was the first person to be charged in Britain with breaching sanctions relating to Russia.

($1 = 0.7837 pounds)

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Gareth Jones)