Alexander Lebedev , a Russian oligarch and former KGB agent, has been sanctioned by the Canadian government.- His son
Evgeny Lebedev is a British-Russian newspaper proprietor and member of the House of Lords.
The Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB agent and father of Evgeny Lebedev, has been sanctioned by the Canadian government.
Lebedev, along with 13 other individuals sanctioned, "have directly enabled Vladimir Putin's senseless war in Ukraine and bear responsibility for the pain and suffering of the people of Ukraine", the Canadian government said Friday.
Labour has called on the UK government to join Canada. Party leader Angela Rayner said: "Any individual with links to the KGB must face sanctions. The Prime Minister must not bend the rules to protect his friends."
Alexander Lebedev told the Financial Times: "I have been an opposition figure for a decade, spent a year of a trial on trump[ed] up charges expecting a seven-year sentence, didn't leave my country, lost all the money and assets I had as well as my cause."
Lebedev's son, Evgeny, sits in the UK's House of Lords, after being controversially recommended for a peerage by
Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia is a newspaper proprietor, with stakes in the Evening Standard and the Independent. The holdings in the papers were originally purchased jointly by the Lebedevs.
He made a rare appearance in the House of Lords on Thursday, sitting in the chamber for little over an hour. He asked no questions and made no interventions in two debates. He has not spoken in the Lords since his maiden speech in May 2021.
Lebedev's elevation has been the subject of scrutiny in the UK, after The Sunday Times reported that Boris Johnson had forced through the appointment against the initial advice of the British security services. Insider reported how a senior Conservative said he "can't believe" Evgeny Lebedev was handed a peerage.
An attempt by Labour to force the government to release documents on Lebedev's appointment led to the release of very few documents citing national security and data protection concerns.
In a statement explaining why they were releasing so few documents, the government revealed the peerage is also being probed by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee. The committee has previously criticised the government for revealing that it had requested information from UK intelligence services.
A spokesman for the Lebedevs did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.