Kent castle on Ukraine’s hit list
A castle on the Kent/East Sussex border is one of 18 properties that could be seized from Russian owners to help Ukraine.
Seacox Heath, a Grade II-listed 19th-century castle, is rumoured to be used by Russian diplomats and FSB spies as a weekend and holiday retreat.
It is on a list of 18 properties, worth hundreds of millions, that Ukraine is considering using legal action to seize.
A castle on the Kent/East Sussex border is one of 18 properties that could be seized from Russian owners to help Ukraine.
Seacox Heath, a Grade II-listed 19th-century castle, is rumoured to be used by Russian diplomats and FSB spies as a weekend and holiday retreat.
It is on a list of 18 properties, worth hundreds of millions, that Ukraine is considering using legal action to seize.
Vadym Prystaiko, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, is hiring a lawyer to bring Russia to court. He hopes a British court would confiscate the properties or force Russia to sell them and share part of the profits. He said he would urge all Ukrainian embassies around the world to do the same, in a move that could result in a claim for properties worth billions. The money raised would be used for the war effort and the reconstruction of Ukraine once the war is over, the ambassador added.
These include Witanhurst, London’s second largest home after Buckingham Palace, which is valued at £300m and owned by the sanctioned billionaire Andrey Guryev. As well as the castle, Russia also owns a luxury apartment block in Kensington, and three houses at Holland Park.
Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said this week that she was considering seizing frozen assets owned by Russians in the UK and redistributing them to victims of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The Times (£)
