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London, March 10 (Reuters): Britain imposed sanctions on Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich and Igor Sechin, the chief executive of Russian oil giant Rosneft, hitting them with asset freezes and travel bans because of their links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The two billionaires plus Oleg Deripaska and four other Russian oligarchs are the most high-profile businessmen to be added to the British sanctions list since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The move follows criticism that Britain has been acting too slowly.
The action puts on ice Abramovich's plans to sell the Premier League club, effectively placing the current European champions under government control. The team can carry on playing but the government said it was open to selling the club so long as Abramovich himself did not benefit.
"There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin's vicious assault on Ukraine," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
"We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies."
There had been loud calls from British lawmakers for action to be taken against Abramovich and other Russian oligarchs, with criticism that Johnson's government was not moving fast enough compared to the European Union and the United States.
Sechin, who Britain described as Putin's right-hand man, was already on the U.S. and EU sanctions lists and last week French authorities seized his yacht.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow describes as a "special military operation", Britain has imposed sanctions on about 20 Russian-linked figures. The EU announced new sanctions on Wednesday against 14 more oligarchs, meaning its restrictions apply to 862 people and 53 entities.