By the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign

The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign condemns the revelation that Lord Wolfson KC, a senior Conservative peer and Shadow Attorney General, is now representing sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in his appeal over billions in frozen assets.

This revelation comes as Ukrainians are being killed daily by Russia’s war of aggression, with no right of appeal against bombardment, occupation, torture, or the mass abduction of children.

Yet a billionaire oligarch long linked to the Kremlin’s system of power is afforded every legal avenue to protect his fortune.

Abramovich has assembled a heavyweight multinational legal team — including Eric Herschmann, a former senior adviser to Donald Trump — to challenge the freezing of more than £5.3 billion in assets. This raises profound questions about the Conservative Party and its long‑standing entanglement with Russian wealth.

For years, the Conservatives buried the Russia Report, accepted donations linked to oligarch networks, and delayed meaningful sanctions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Now, while posturing as defenders of national security, a member of their own Shadow Cabinet is representing a sanctioned oligarch in a case that directly affects Ukraine’s ability to receive urgently needed funds.

This is not an isolated incident — it reflects a wider political drift. As the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign has warned, a Trump–Putin axis is reshaping global politics, empowering authoritarian forces.  The new US National Security Strategy signals a strategic shift toward accommodation with Russia and alignment with the populist far‑right in Europe.

The involvement of a former Trump adviser in Abramovich’s legal defence underscores this trend. It also raises serious questions about the Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership.

It is difficult to believe that a Shadow Cabinet member would take on such a case without the knowledge or approval of the party leadership. Are we seeing early indications that, ahead of any Trump–Putin attempt to impose an unjust peace on Ukraine, the Conservatives are preparing to return to ‘business as usual’ with Russia? Is this laying the groundwork for a future alignment with Nigel Farage by normalising  troubling attitudes of Reform UK toward Russia?

The situation surrounding Abramovich’s assets is emblematic of a broader failure. While Ukraine continues to resist invasion under extraordinary pressure, the UK has yet to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. Meanwhile, oligarchs continue to exploit the UK legal system to delay accountability.

The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign therefore calls for:

1. Full transparency

on why a Shadow Cabinet member is representing a sanctioned oligarch.

2. Immediate action by the UK Labour government

to ensure that all frozen Russian assets — including the proceeds of the Chelsea sale — are transferred to Ukraine as a matter of urgency.

3. Implementation of the Russia Report

and a complete break with oligarchic influence. The UK must confront the networks that enabled Russian wealth to embed itself in British political and financial life.

4. Emergency legislation

to prevent the Russian state and sanctioned individuals from exploiting the UK legal system to delay accountability. The rights of victims of Russian aggression must come before the privileges of oligarchs.

The European labour movement must resist attempts to impose an unjust peace on Ukraine and must campaign for the urgent provision of increased military, economic, and humanitarian support – funded by frozen Russian assets.

The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign stands firmly with the Ukrainian people. We declare: Occupation is not peace. With or without a deal manufactured by Putin and Trump, we will continue to campaign for Russian troops out and for a free and united Ukraine — free from oligarchs and occupiers.