UK sanctions Kremlin propagandists and ‘butcher of Mariupol’ Mikhail Mizintsev

Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, propagandist Sergey Brilev and Kremlin funded TV-Novosti, which owns RT, have all been sanctioned by the UK Government

Kremlin propagandists, a Russian general dubbed “the butcher of Mariupol” and a Moscow-funded TV network have all been slapped with sanctions by the UK.

The latest names added to the government’s sanctions list include Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, propagandist Sergey Brilev and Kremlin funded TV-Novosti, which owns the Russia Today (RT) news channel.

Aleksandr Zharov, chief executive of Gazprom-Media, Alexey Nikolov the managing director of RT, and Anton Anisimov, the head of Sputnik International Broadcasting, were also sanctioned.

Mizintsev, who is chief of Russia’s national defence command and control centre, has been “responsible for planning and executing the siege and bombardment of Mariupol” .

The Ukrainian port city has been devastated by heavy Russian shelling, including the bombing of a maternity hospital which shocked the world.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “Putin’s war on Ukraine is based on a torrent of lies.

“Britain has helped lead the world in exposing Kremlin disinformation, and this latest batch of sanctions hits the shameless propagandists who push out Putin’s fake news and narratives.

“We will keep on going with more sanctions to ramp up the pressure on Russia and ensure Putin loses in Ukraine. Nothing and no one is off the table.”

Britain’s regulator Ofcom stripped RT of its broadcast licence earlier this month.

Downing Street said the UK was continuing to “further ratchet up the pressure” on Vladimir Putin’s regime.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We know that countries can adapt to sanctions over time so it’s right that we keep moving forwards on this.

“It’s equally right to to place sanctions on those who are are seeking to misinform people at a mass scale and that’s who the sanctions are targeted at today – famous TV anchors on state-owned TV who push forward the falsehoods that are misleading some of the Russian people into not understanding the situation in Ukraine and some of the wanton destruction and killing of civilians that we’re seeing.”

Asked whether the UK believes Mizintsev was guilty of war crimes in Mariupol, the PM’s spokesman said: “I think no one can doubt in looking at what’s happening in Mariupol there, on the face of it, appears to be evidence of war crimes.

“Formally, that is not a distinction that we can rule on. But clearly, no one can be in any doubt by looking at the situation that it is a horrific thing.”