Mega-rich Russians living in a British billionaires’ row have been reduced to tears after Ukraine war sanctions wrecked their luxury lifestyles.
Pampered Putin cronies in Surrey’s St George’s Estate – an exclusive gated enclave where a third of residents are Russian – are unable to pay for private jet flights, holidays or even taxis now their credit cards are frozen.
Many have been forced to ask staff to fork out for cabs after finding Uber executive accounts linked to their cards had been closed.
A personal assistant to several oligarchs on the estate told us yesterday: “I have had to endure hearing them in tears because they can’t get on board a private jet or book a holiday or even get an Uber any more. But it’s hard to have any sympathy. It doesn’t matter to them if people are dying in Ukraine.”
The whistleblower said one super-rich Russian wife collapsed in tears after bespoke electrical fittings ordered for her £10 million St George’s estate mansion were blocked.
Get all the latest news sent to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror newsletter
Another Surrey pair were stranded in Dubai when their first-class flight was cancelled.
Oligarchs in the heavily guarded 964-acre enclave near Weybridge, Surrey, include oil tycoon and close Putin pal Oleg Deripaska, 54, a mining and energy company boss. Properties on the estate sell for more than £20 million.
The whistleblower, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, told us: “These people care nothing for the suffering in Ukraine.
“They care only about themselves and how the sanctions are starting to affect their champagne lifestyle.
“Just before the war one of the wealthy Russian families I know in Surrey paid £24,000 to fly a live crab and some black caviar from Moscow on a private jet for a party.
“But that’s all changing now and it’s good to see them having to adjust to their new place in the world.
“I laugh at their bleating. I get five calls a day from Russian billionaires asking me to help them with blocked credit card problems.
“They ask if they can use my address when they apply for new cards to avoid the sanctions. I just put the phone down. I can’t talk to these people any more – they should understand what is happening and what their leader is doing.”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss plans to sanction even more oligarchs. She said: “There are over 100 Russian billionaires. We have to make it deeply painful for those that support Putin."
