Protesters occupied the central London property of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, draping a Ukranian flag and a banner saying “Putin go fuck yourself” from its balconies.
A heavy police presence gathered outside the property, 5 Belgrave Square, with six police vans and two cordons on the street.
Speaking from the house’s balcony, the occupiers said they had been let in by the ghost of a Ukrainian anarchist. Unofficially, they added, an open window may have aided their late-night entry.
The squatters – calling themselves the London Makhnovists in honour of Ukrainian anarchist Nestor Makhno – told The Big Issue they entered the property at 1am on Monday.
Upon entry, they found it “deserted”, with no food in the fridges, and the heating and hot water turned off.
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“We think there’s a lot of space here to house refugees,” they said. “We aren’t here to live we are here to protest and open up the space for refugees. They did not buy this house as a home they bought it a as a property investment.”
They added that the only way they will leave the property is with a “High Court order”.
Police have cordoned off the area outside the property. Image: Greg Barradale
One person attempted to throw a Sainsbury’s carrier bag full of food up to the balcony of the property, where the protesters are stationed. It wasn’t the best throw, however, and the bag landed on top of a police van, angering officers who had set up a cordon outside.
Someone now getting a telling-off from police after trying to throw a bag of food up to the occupiers, and landing it on top of a police van pic.twitter.com/vdxIovqsHV
A poster released by the protesters called on people to “squat oligarchs’ properties everywhere”, and declared to oligarchs: “You occupy Ukraine, we occupy you.”
Deripaska is estimated to be worth £2bn and owns a stake in En+ Group, a parent company of UC Rusal, a major aluminium producer.
Under the newly-announced sanctions, Deripaska – along with Roman Abramovich and a handful of other oligarchs – is banned from entering or leaving the UK and from doing business in the UK.
As the occupation went on, the police presence increased, with a large number of riot police entering the building through the front door.
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