THE DISPATCH
OLIGARCH SQUAT
This is what happened when some people took over the Belgravia home of a sanctioned oligarch to hold it for Ukrainian refugees
Standing on a Belgravia balcony, the masked men shout their demands past the police cordon. They want an end to the war in Ukraine. That may be beyond the remit of the Met. They also want an empty mansion to be used to house refugees from the conflict.
The balcony belongs to the oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Net worth £2 billion, he’s one of a handful of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the UK government on March 9. The £25 million townhouse has been occupied.
Hours earlier, the minister for Levelling Up Michael Gove said oligarchs’ mansions should be used to house refugees. His call, it seems, has been answered. As The Big Issue arrives, there are four men on display, taking turns to shout Putin-related profanities from the balcony down to bewildered onlookers. Monty Python, but with the knights of the round table recast by a gaggle of journalists and bemused police officers.
Banners reading ‘Putin go fuck yourself ’ and ‘This building has been liberated’, accompanied by a Ukrainian flag, hang from 5 Belgrave Square. Half a dozen police vans have turned up, with the manpower to match. Answering questions shouted up from beyond the cordon, the group said they found out about the property in a newspaper. Their official line on how they got in is that the ghost of Nestor Makhno, a turn-of-the-20th-century Ukrainian anarchist, let them in at
