Alexander Litvinenko’s widow tells Roman Abramovich to give Chelsea sale profits to Ukraine

The widow of murdered former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has called on Roman Abramovich to donate any money he makes from selling Chelsea to Ukraine.

Abramovich is actively looking to find a buyer for the Premier League football club – which he bought in 2003 – and is selling property he owns in London amid calls for the 55-year-old billionaire to be sanctioned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Marina Litvinenko has been a prominent campaigner against Vladimir Putin since her husband was poisoned in 2006 and says there are questions that need to be answered surrounding the timing of Abramovich’s move to sell Chelsea.

She says Abramovich’s reputation has already been ‘demolished’ in the UK but donating profits from the sale of Chelsea to Ukraine would go some lengths to proving he is not a foil for Putin – a link he has always denied.

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Speaking to The Telegraph about the oligarch’s efforts to find a buyer for Chelsea, Marina said: ‘My advice is, if Abramovich wants people to see him as a human, with this money he might donate to the Ukrainian fight for liberty, for their country, for their language, for everything.’

She added: ‘Then I would understand why he tries to sell Chelsea.’

In 2015, the high court heard claims that Alexander Litvinenko had actually been investigating Abramovich – among others – in the year he was murdered.

Abramovich and a number of other Russian oligarchs are still yet to face sanctions from the UK government, with Labour leader Kier Starmer asking Boris Johnson ‘why on earth’ this was the case in parliament on Wednesday.

Marina Litvinenko feels the UK were far too accommodating of Abramovich and others,