United Kingdom launches reception program for Ukrainians

On Monday, the British government launched a website aimed at British people who wish to welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war into their homes.

Criticized for its slowness and the low number of agreed visas - 4,000 according to the latest figures - as well as the complexity of the initial process, Boris Johnson's government now wants to correct the shot

People who choose to take Ukrainian refugees into their homes will receive 350 pounds (418 euros) per month and must commit to hosting them for at least six months.

The beneficiaries, who must obtain a visa, will be able to live and work in the United Kingdom for up to three years, and benefit from social benefits.

On the other hand, the government is working to “identify the appropriate use of seized goods” as part of sanctions against those close to power in Moscow, in retaliation for Russia's invasion of Ukraine,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday.

- Occupied mansion -

A group of protesters occupied a mansion linked to a Russian tycoon on Monday in an exclusive neighborhood of London and asked that the building be used to house Ukrainian refugees.

“We intend to use this building to accommodate refugees,” one of the group's members told reporters.

Four protesters, three of them with their faces partially covered, stood on one of the balconies and performed under the name of the “London Makhnovists”, an anarchist group.

A blue banner with the words “this property has been liberated” and a red banner that read “screw Putin” hung from two balconies of the imposing cream-colored building located at number 5 Belgrave Square. In a window, you could see a Ukrainian flag.

The mansion was surrounded by a police cordon and guarded by half a dozen police vehicles, said an AFP journalist.

The property, located in central London near Hyde Park, belongs to a company imregistered in the British Virgin Islands, according to the property register.

It is managed by Graham Bonham Carter, a British businessman whose bank accounts were frozen in early March by the British justice system.

Carter manages Oleg Deripaska's multi-million dollar portfolio of properties in the UK.

Deripaska is one of seven Russian millionaires sanctioned on Thursday by the British government, which froze their assets and banned them from traveling because of their ties to the Kremlin.

Referring to the sanctions imposed by the British government on Russian oligarchs with property in the United Kingdom, one of the activists told AFP by telephone that, under the law, “it could take up to six months to seize their property.”

“Frankly, this is ridiculous (...) we are confiscating their property now,” he justified.

On the other hand, in France, three men were arrested in Biarritz (southwest) after entering a mansion belonging to the former son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin, where they deployed a Ukrainian flag.

Bur-Spe/Pau/Me/MB/JVB