Putin propagandist news host has British home and citizenship
One of Russia’s most popular television news presenters, who has been accused of being a propagandist for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has British citizenship and a family flat in west London.
Sergei Brilev has been reporting on the war in Ukraine on the state-controlled Rossiya 1, which tightly follows the Kremlin’s messaging. The channel describes the war as a “special military operation” launched to protect Ukrainian citizens from “abuse and genocide”.
British government ministers are coming under pressure to impose sanctions on Brilev. The Labour MP Stephen Kinnock asked in parliament for the Home Office to “take steps to strip [him] of his British citizenship, ban him from the UK and freeze his UK assets”. The Home Office said last week it would not comment on individual cases.
Kinnock said: “It seems to me there is clear evidence that Sergei Brilev is a propagandist for the Kremlin and plays an important role in supporting Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine.
“The British government must conduct a full and thorough investigation into Mr Brilev in order to judge whether he should be sanctioned. Given the information I have seen, it seems the case is clear that he should be targeted for sanctions.”
Other Russian television anchors have already faced sanctions by the EU over the state-backed disinformation about the Ukraine invasion.
Olga Skabeyeva, 37, a talkshow host on Rossiya 1, was put under sanction by the EU last month, accused of spreading “anti-Ukrainian propaganda”. Another presenter on the channel, Vladimir Solovyov, 58, has also been the target of EU sanctions. It has been reported that two villas owned by him at Lake Como in Italy, worth €8m (£6.7m), have been sequestered by the authorities.
Brilev is one
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