Abramovich Pledged $3 Billion for Ukraine War Victims. The Money Is Frozen in the U.K.

The issue of where the billions from Chelsea go highlights this balancing act, said Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank. If $3 billion in aid is shipped only to Ukraine “that might not be looked on too kindly by the Kremlin,” he said. Meanwhile, the British government is nervous in case it greenlights the release of the funds which then end up in the pocket of an unsavoury Kremlin ally in a far-flung country, he said.