Squatters invade £50million Knightsbridge mansion of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska

Riot police today stormed the £50million Belgravia ‘crash pad’ of a sanctioned Russian oligarch to take it back from protesters who invaded the property to ‘house Ukrainian refugees’.

At least five activists broke into 5 Belgrave Square just after midnight before hanging Ukrainian flags and a banner reading, ‘The property has been liberated’ and ‘Putin go f*** yourself’, as they vowed to stay until Russian forces left Ukraine.

The mansion belongs to the family of oil tycoon Oleg Deripaska, one of seven oligarchs who were sanctioned by the UK government last week for being ‘pro-Kremlin’ and ‘closely associated’ with Putin.

Deripaska has close links to the British establishment, with Peter Mandelson and George Osborne previously visiting his £80million superyacht in Corfu.

At around midday, police officers wearing helmets and safety harnesses used a ladder and a JCB cherry picker to access the mansion’s balcony, with two of the protesters trying to make a barricade out of potted plants.

Officers then used a drill to break open the front door, while activists shouted, ‘Go away you losers’ and ‘you fascist scumbags’ from the balcony above.

The squatters call themselves the London Mahknovists – after Nestor Makhno, who led an anarchist force that attempted to form a stateless society in Ukraine during the Russian Revolution of 1917-1923.

At one point, two of the activists shared a drink from a single glass while one man sang: ‘I’ve had the time of my life’, from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

Another shouted to people looking out of the window of the building next door: ‘We are your new neighbours. We’ll come around tomorrow with some brisket.’  

Before the police raid, three men stood on the balcony above the street, playing music, waving and dancing. Talking about finding housing for refugees, one said: ‘Priti Patel, do not worry. We did your job. Refugees welcome.’  

A second man added: ‘We are planning to stay until Putin stops the war. Putin is responsible for people losing their homes and lands. Sanctions are not enough. The Government has delayed action – they are playing games.’  

Another of the squatters, who appeared to be in his early 20s, said: ‘There was no forceful entry whatsoever. We are using our human rights to protest.

‘We are here to protest the property of a Russian oligarch and a war mongerer. 

‘This government are not only acting illegally, they are acting immorally. This property belongs to Ukrainian refugees.’

His wealth is estimated to be £2.3 billion and he has a multimillion-pound property portfolio in the UK which, according to a 2007 High Court judgment, includes the house at 5 Belgrave Square. 

Records indicate it has not changed hands since and is owned by an offshore British Virgin Islands company. 

Answering reporters’ questions, another of the men said there are five of them inside the mansion but they have a ‘way bigger group coming’.

He continued: ‘We have opened the building to house Ukrainian refugees and refugees from all nations.’

He also said the owner of the building ‘wants to destroy Ukraine homes’.

‘He supported the wars. This home belongs to Ukrainian refugees. There are families dying. Their land has gone. This is the least we can do.’

They said the UK Government have ‘failed’ to properly respond to the invasion, adding: ‘The same money that funds the Russia war machine funds the Conservative Party.’

The group also criticised the police, comparing them to those arresting protesters in Russia.

Asked how they got into the property, one joked: ‘Squatters’ magic.’

Another laughed: ‘I swear I cannot remember a thing.’

One man said that inside the mansion ‘there are a lot of rooms. There is so much stuff that a normal human being shouldn’t have.’

Asked whether they have enough food and drink, one said: ‘This bastard left the basement full of alcohol but left no food.

‘We have everything we need but we do not have food, so if anyone could provide us with food and we can lift it up with a rope, that would be really appreciated.’ 

5 Belgrave Square is considered to be London’s most expensive terraced house, and previously belonged to the society diarist Sir Henry ‘Chips’ Channon MP. 

It was also once home of Sir George Murray, the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, until he died there in 1846, and later housed the Institute of Directors. 

In 2008, a court case revealed the mansion was permanently staffed with a large domestic and security team despite Deripaska only staying a few days a year. 

The oligarch has addressed the war on his Twitter account, writing: ‘I remain committed to my belief that an immediate ceasefire and peace agreement as soon as humanly possible is the best and only solution to stop this madness in Ukraine.’ 

A Met spokesman said: ‘Police were called shortly after 01:00hrs on Monday, 14 March to a residential property in Belgrave Square, SW1.

‘Officers attended and found that a number of people had gained entry and hung banners from upstairs windows. Officers remain at the location.’ 

Oleg Deripaska has deep ties to the British establishment, and once hosted Peter Mandelson and George Osborne on his yacht in Corfu. 

As a result of the sanctions announced on Thursday, he was hit with an asset freeze and banned from any transactions with UK individuals and businesses.    

The tycoon claimed there was ‘not a single fact’ to support the measures, and suggested he could challenge them in court. 

In a blistering tweet, he wrote: ‘Since there’s not a single fact in support of Boris’ cabinet’s fantasies it will be for the courts and the police to decide the future for all in this sanctions story.’ 

Deripaska was embroiled in a 2008 row dubbed Yachtgate, after his meetings with Mr Mandelson and Mr Osborne were revealed. 

Both men met the industrialist on his yacht, with Mr Osborne accused of trying to solicit a donation for the Tory party – something he denies. 

Lord Mandelson, who was then an EU trade commissioner, stayed on the Queen K off the Greek island. 

He went on to become business secretary in Gordon Brown’s government as a Labour peer.

By the time they met Deripaska had already been targeted by the United States, which cancelled his visa in 2007. 

The Russian is believed to have a fortune of £3.2billion. Last year, Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely used Parliamentary Privilege to describe him as ‘one of President Putin’s most loyal oligarchs’. 

Deripaska, who is a grandson by marriage to the late leader of the Soviet Union Boris Yeltsin, has been sanctioned by the US since 2018 over alleged links to the Russian government, including allegations of cyber-attacks and election meddling.

He called the claims ‘a lie’, adding: ‘The idea that I am some kind of ”Kremlin operative”… is clearly idiotic nonsense.’ 

In a bitter £650million legal battle at the High Court in 2012, he was alleged to have ties to brutal organised crime gangs which emerged after the collapse of Communism in the former Soviet Union.

He vehemently denied the allegations – revealed in legal papers filed as part of the case – and counter-claimed that he was the victim of an ‘old-fashioned protection racket’ run by the Mafia-style gangs.

Deripaska said he had been forced to pay more than half a billion dollars to the gangs over seven years and had feared for his safety and that of his family.

His one time business partner, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, has been hit with the same measures – as have Rosneft chief Igor Sechin and four more described as being in Putin’s ‘inner circle’. 

After the Corfu meeting with Deripaska was revealed, Mr Osborne admitted meeting him on four occasions over the course of a weekend in the Mediterranean in August 2008. 

He insisted they had not discussed donations, which are allowed only from UK-registered voters, but later admitted the meetings were ‘a mistake’.

Mandelson also denied any wrongdoing, telling the Guardian: ‘What is important is not where you meet somebody or how long you meet them for but what you do during the meeting.

‘In my case, I offered no favours and I received no favours, unlike George Osborne, who was holding conversations around his visits in order to obtain a financial contribution to the Conservative party.’