DUP MP Jim Shannon told the House of Commons that he would have to park his hypothetical superyacht in the sleepy Co Down village of Ballywalter after he was subjected to sanctions by Vladimir Putin's government.
The Strangford MP was one of 21 British politicians to be placed under sanction by the Russian Government this week as the Kremlin has hit out at the UK, labelling the country "hysterical".
This comes after the UK imposed a list of economic sanctions and bans against several Russian oligarchs and diplomats since its terror invasion of Ukraine started in 2022. The Kremlin accused the UK of "actively fabricating anti-Russian narratives in order to reduce Moscow 's influence on the international stage, and further pumping weapons into the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv".
In a bizarre rant about "Russophobia", a Russian spokesperson said: "The comprehensive nature of the anti-Russian sanctions introduced by Great Britain and the hysterical statements of the country's officials, in which threats are interspersed with lies and outright rudeness towards us, indicate that London does not intend to abandon its choice in favour of open confrontation with Russia.
"Russophobia and the desire to destroy Russian statehood remain integral elements of British foreign policy, which is completely subordinated to the task of inflicting as much damage as possible on our national interests."
The spokesman added: "Hostile statements and unfounded accusations coming from members of the UK Parliament, including public statements in favour of seizing Russian assets 'immobilised' in Western jurisdictions, not only pander to London's hostile course, but are also used by opponents of mutually respectful dialogue with Russia to undermine the foundations of bilateral cooperation.
"We are closely monitoring such rhetoric and drawing the necessary conclusions." Since 2022, the UK Treasury has frozen £25 billion worth of Russian assets in the country and sanctioned more than 2,000 people connected to the Kremlin and Putin.
Responding to the sanctions, Jim Shannon told the House of Commons: "I was one of those to be sanctioned, but what does that sanction mean? It means that my superyacht—I do not have one—cannot be taken to Vladivostok for the summer or for the winter, so I will have to take it to Ballywalter, the village where I was born and brought up, and put it alongside the rented rowing boat that I use now and again.
"The sanction will not stop me speaking up to tell it straight on Russia ’s crimes, and let us remember what those are. There are the stolen children, whom the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter) talked about. There are thousands of men, women and children who have been murdered, and the church pastors who have disappeared. There was the massacre in Bucha. All those crimes anger us.
"This is about accountability: it is about making sure that the Russians who carried out those crimes will be held to account some day. By the way, I hope they are watching, because a sanction does not stop me, and it will not stop anyone else in this Chamber speaking up either."
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