The UK says it has impounded several private jets linked to 'Putin's cronies'

• The UK has impounded private jets linked to figures close to Putin, the transport secretary said.
• Russian elites and oligarchs – and their superyachts and private jets – have been targeted by sanctions.

The UK's transport secretary says the government has impounded private jets thought to be linked to figures close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The West has levied steep sanctions against Russian elites and oligarchs in the weeks since Putin sent troops to invade Ukraine, freezing their assets and in some cases limiting travel. Their superyachts and private jets – the most high-profile displays of their wealth – have been targeted, too.

While some yachts and jets known to belong to sanctioned oligarchs have been seized, others have been detained while officials determine who owns them.

"We have detained private jets that we believe are owned by, or connected to, Putin's cronies," Grant Shapps, the secretary of state for transport, told UK lawmakers in the House of Commons Thursday.

Shapps did not provide further details on which jets had been detained, but he told the BBC on March 9 that the UK had "essentially impounded" a private jet under new rules that prevent any Russian aircraft from entering UK airspace and which allow officials to detain any that do enter. UK media reported that the jet is linked to Russian oil magnate Eugene Shvidler.

"UK air traffic control and UK airports are not to provide access to any aircraft which they have reason to believe is a Russian aircraft," Shapps said in a letter to UK airports and airfields on March 8.

The Isle of Man, which is known as a tax haven for the super wealthy, said that, as of Wednesday, it had removed the registration of 17 private jets with Russian ties, along with a helicopter linked to a sanctioned oligarch's yacht.

Alex Allinson, the Isle of Man's minister for enterprise, told Insider that the government was looking to remove from the register any aircraft, ships, and yachts with Russian ties.

The sanctions on oligarchs aim to put pressure on Putin to call off Russia's invasion of Ukraine. UK-based billionaire oligarch Mikhail Fridman told the BBC that he didn't know how to live after being hit with sanctions, adding that his UK bank cards had been frozen.