Mega-rich Russian oligarchs in Surrey ‘in tears unable to book private jets’

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A personal assistant to several oligarchs living on Surrey’s St George’s Estate – an exclusive residential area where houses cost more than £20million – spoke to the Sunday Mirror

Mega-rich Russians, who live in a row of British billionaires, have been brought to tears after wartime sanctions in Ukraine shattered their luxury lifestyle.

Spoiled Putin cronies in Surrey’s St George’s Estate — an exclusive gated enclave where a third of the residents are Russian — can’t pay for private jet flights, holidays or even taxis because their credit cards are frozen.

Many were forced to ask employees to take a cab after Uber Executive accounts linked to their cards were found to have been closed.

A personal assistant to several oligarchs at the estate told us yesterday: “I had to endure hearing them in tears because they can no longer board a private jet or book a vacation or even get an Uber. But it’s hard to have sympathy. They don’t care if people die in Ukraine.”

The whistleblower said a super-rich Russian woman broke down in tears after bespoke electrical installations ordered for her £10million mansion in St George were blocked.

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Another Surrey couple was stranded in Dubai when their first class flight was cancelled.

Among the oligarchs in the heavily guarded 964-acre enclave near Weybridge, Surrey, is oil tycoon and close Putin pal Oleg Deripaska, 54, a mining and energy company boss. Properties on the estate are selling for more than £20million.

The whistleblower, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, told us: “These people don’t care about the suffering in Ukraine.

“They only care about themselves and how the sanctions are affecting their champagne lifestyle.

“Just before the war, one of the wealthy Russian families I know in Surrey paid £24,000 to have a live crab and some black caviar flown in from Moscow on a private jet for a party.

“But that’s changing now and it’s good to see that they’re having to adjust to their new place in the world.

“I laugh at her nagging. I get five calls a day from Russian billionaires asking me to help them with blocked credit card issues.

“They ask if they can use my address when applying for new cards to avoid sanctions. I just hung up the phone. I can’t talk to these people anymore – they should understand what is happening and what their leader is doing.”

Secretary of State Liz Truss plans to sanction even more oligarchs. She said: “There are over 100 Russian billionaires. We must make it deeply painful for those who support Putin.”