London, Apr 11 (AP) A former Russian government minister who violated British sanctions by receiving significant financial support from family members was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison.

Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who was appointed governor of Sevastopol in Crimea by Russian President Vladimir Putin, became the first person convicted of violating the sanctions put in place after the illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

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He set up a British bank account to illegally receive tens of thousands of pounds from his wife and accepted gifts and payments from his brother, prosecutors said.

Ovsiannikov, 48, was convicted Wednesday in Southwark Crown Court of six out of seven counts of circumventing sanctions between February 2023 and January 2024.

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The jury couldn't reach a verdict on the final count.

He was also convicted of money laundering. (AP)

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