Witney MP criticised for Russia-linked backer donations

Robert Courts, Conservative MP for Witney and West Oxfordshire, was elected chairman of the Commons Defence Committee last week.

But he has faced pressure from the Witney Liberal Democrats group to explain nearly £18,000 of donations he and the local Conservative Association have received from Lubov Chernukhin over the last few years.

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Lubov Chernukhin's husband was a deputy finance minister under Russian president Vladimir Putin (Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin Pool/AP)

Mrs Chernukhin, a British citizen of Russian origin, is married to Vladimir Chernukhin, who was a deputy finance minister under Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The Conservative Party has been criticised over recent years for accepting donations from people with links to Russia while sanctions are in place following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mrs Chernukhin has publicly condemned the Russian invasion, and Mr Courts’ office dismissed the criticism as the “same repeated smear campaign” that has been run for the last three years.

But Charlie Maynard, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for the constituency, said: “The Electoral Commission asks politicians to answer one very simple question when they accept a donation: ‘Do you know where the money really comes from?’

Lib Dem Charlie Maynard has asked the incumbent MP to explain his donations from Lubov Chernukhin (Image: West Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

"We know Mrs. Chernukhin is married to an ex-deputy finance minister to Putin and that it’s her name on the donations not his.

"We know she’s now been granted British citizenship, but we don’t know where her money came from - and we need to.

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"We all recognise Russia is a threat to the UK and now we have the new Chair of our Commons Defence Committee refusing to answer the most basic question about large donations he has received.”

Mrs Chernukhin is the largest female political donor in British history having donated over £2 million to the Conservative Party.

A spokeswoman for Mr Courts’ office said: “This is the same repeated smear campaign that the Liberals - no doubt instructed by their national bosses - run periodically, as they have for three consecutive years, presumably in a flailing attempt to distract from their appalling record in Oxfordshire’s local government and inability to offer a positive, realistic, constructive vision for our local area.

“This attack takes on a particularly unpleasant air given that the individual referred to is not only a British citizen – and like any other British citizen, is perfectly entitled to make donations – but is a strident Putin critic.

“Robert’s record, on the other hand, is of someone who not only led the worldwide imposition of sanctions on Russia as Aviation and Maritime Minister – being sanctioned by the Russians for his efforts - but is a trusted voice nationally on issues of defence & security, proven by his recent election as Defence Committee Chair following a cross-party vote".