Russo-British businessman Evgeny Lebedev has denied posing a “security risk” to Britain, declaring in an article “I am not an agent of Russia”.
It follows reports that the security services had expressed concerns he would be made a peer in 2020.
Writing in the London Evening Standard, which he owns, Lord Lebedev said he had “no choice but to reply”.
He said it was “crucial that we do not fall into Russophobia during the war in Ukraine.”
The British government has tightened sanctions against individuals and companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin since his invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
Seven oligarchs, including Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, and 386 Russian MPs were among the latest to be sanctioned by Britain.
In this climate, some individuals with ties to Russia are coming under closer scrutiny in the UK as the war in Ukraine escalates.
- Who are the mega-rich Russians facing sanctions?
- What sanctions will be imposed on Russia?
- Who is not on the UK sanctions list?
Last week the Sunday Times reported that in March 2020 the commission examining nominations to the peerage advised Prime Minister Boris Johnson against giving Mr Lebedev a seat in the House of Lords over security concerns.
The newspaper said the rating was withdrawn after Mr Johnson – a longtime friend of Lord Lebedev – personally intervened.
The commission can advise but not veto appointments to nobility, which are ultimately decided by prime ministers and formalized by the queen.
Asked this week if he had “overruled” the advice of the Security Service, Boris Johnson said “no” to the PM’s questions.
Lord Lebedev, the owner of the Independent and London Evening Standard newspapers, was knighted for philanthropy and services to the media in July 2020 after being nominated by Mr Johnson.
Union leader Sir Keir Starmer called on Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee to investigate the appointment, calling it a “matter of national security”.
But in his Friday article, Lord Lebedev, who holds both Russian and British citizenship, said: “I am not a security risk to this country I love”.
The son of Alexander Lebedev, a Russian billionaire and former KGB officer, came to London at the age of eight when his father started working at the Soviet embassy.
In his article, Lord Lebedev said he was educated in Britain and “proud to be a British citizen and to call Britain my homeland”.
He admitted that his father “was a foreign intelligence agent for the KGB, but I’m not an agent of Russia.”
He said his father “spent his time fighting corruption and illicit financial dealings” and that his family “promoted press freedom” in Russia.
A Russian name is “not automatically an enemy of the state”.
“It is crucial that we do not fall into Russophobia like any other phobia, bigotry or discrimination,” he added.
The article is the second Lord Lebedev has published in the Evening Standard since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
In late February, he wrote a letter to Putin calling on the Russian president to “end this terrible conflict in Ukraine.”
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