The Yad Vashem Memorial, the Israeli institution dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust, announced on 10 March 2022 that it was refusing a $10 million donation from Roman Abramovich.

Israel’s second wealthiest person, Roman Abramovich has dual Israeli and Russian nationality. He is in the process of liquidating his assets and properties in Europe and the Americas before they are frozen by states hostile to the Russian intervention in Ukraine.

The British government has halted the sale of his Chelsea FC soccer club and has set strict financial limits on its operation. Telecom company Three UK has suspended its sponsorship of the club. Meanwhile, Mr. Abramovich remains the owner.

While Mr. Abramovich was a member of President Boris Yeltsin’s inner circle, he has no political pull in the Kremlin today. The sanctions that target him are solely political and unrelated to any of his actionsan; they should be understood exclusively in the context of East-West relations.