Squatters Occupy Russian Billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s London Mansion

THE GUARDIAN: Group enters property in Belgrave Square and warns oligarchs: ‘you occupy Ukraine, we occupy you’

Squatters occupying Oleg Deripaska mansion at Belgrave Square in London Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian
Squatters have occupied a mansion belonging to the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska in central London in the early hours of Monday.

The five squatters in the building in Belgrave Square – two from eastern Europe, though not from Ukraine – say they feel their countries are also under threat from Vladimir Putin. Their plan is to open up the mansion, which they say “has too many rooms to count” including a cinema and a wine cellar, to Ukrainians fleeing the war, along with other refugees needing shelter.

In a message to Russian oligarchs, the squatters said: “You occupy Ukraine, we occupy you.”

A significant police presence barred entry to the cream-coloured stone building with a black front door and pillars at the entrance.

This part of London has been nicknamed “oligarchs’ quarter” because so many wealthy Russians have bought properties here, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace. » | Diane Taylor | Monday, March 14, 2022

Ukraine: Squatters occupy Russian oligarch's London mansion: Squatters have occupied a central London mansion believed to belong to one of the oligarchs sanctioned by the UK government. »

Riot police using cherry picker storm Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska's £50million Knightsbridge 'crash-pad' after it was invaded by activists vowing to house Ukrainian refugees there »

Lockerbie Bomber Release: Lord Mandelson, His Wealthy Friends and the Libyan Connection
THE TELEGRAPH: Lord Mandelson, the Business Secreatry, is facing growing questions over his links with Saif Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi, following the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi.

In a destination that developers predict will soon make the tax haven of Monaco look "second rate", it was described as the most glamorous party ever seen in the Adriatic.

As the champagne flowed, fireworks lit up the night sky, a dozen private Lear jets were parked on a nearby runway and giant yachts were moored offshore.

The fabulously wealthy guests at the appropriately-named Splendid Hotel included Prince Albert of Monaco and Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate.

Also present were Oleg Deripaska, the Russian entrepreneur, and Nat Rothschild, the British financier - both close allies of Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary.

And who hosted the 37th birthday party in June in one of the trendiest locations in Montenegro – a newly-independent nation whose cause Lord Mandelson has repeatedly championed?

The unlikely host – hundreds of miles from his African homeland – was Saif Gadaffi, the son of the Libyan leader, who, it emerged last week, has met Lord Mandelson twice in the past four months.

At at least one of those meetings, the fate of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, was discussed.

It was Mr Gaddafi too who, much to the anger of the US and some victims' relatives, stood alongside Megrahi and ensured he was given a "hero's welcome" as his plane touched down in the Libyan capital of Tripoli late on Thursday night – just hours after he was released by the Scottish government from a life sentence handed down in 2001 for the terrorist attack that claimed 270 lives in December 1988.

Intriguingly, Mr Gaddafi has publicly thanked the British – as well as the Scottish – government for Megrahi's release. >>> Andrew Alderson and Alastair Jamieson | Saturday, August 22, 2009