The Good Law Project has been carrying out a series of investigations to tackle dark money in politics

A year on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Conservative party is still receiving large donations from individuals and companies with links to Russia, an investigation from the Good Law Project has revealed.

The Good Law Project has been carrying out a series of investigations to tackle dark money in politics, and reveals that despite the Tories sounding tough on Putin and individuals linked to him following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, since the start of the war in 2022, the Conservatives have accepted at least £243,000 from Russia-associated donors, including at least £61,000 into Tory coffers in 2023 alone.

Among those donating to the Tories is Lubov Chernukhin. The Good Law project reports that she has handed £175,000 to the Tories since the onset of war. Overall she has donated more than £2m to the Conservative party. Chernukhin was also revealed last year to be on a ‘secret advisory board’ with direct access to Boris Johnson, and has donated more than £2 million to the Conservatives from 2012 to 2020.

Good Law Project further reports: “Aquind, a British cabling company controlled by Russian oil tycoon Viktor Fedotov, has donated £42,000 to the Conservative party in the past 14 months, including a £10,000 cash donation to Liam Fox MP reported in January this year.

Fedetov’s ties to Russia have been well documented, with reports suggesting he made at least £72m from an offshore financial structure that appears to have funnelled money from Russian companies.”

Also among the donors is Alexander Temerko, a director of Aquind who has donated a further £10,000 to the Tories during the same period. Temerko has donated over £700,000 in total.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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