LONDON, February 1. /TASS/. The Russian embassy in the UK contacted the Foreign Office, demanding confirmation of detention of Sevastopol ex-Governor Dmitry Ovsyannikov and demanding to provide immediate access to him if he has indeed been detained, the embassy told TASS.

"In accordance with the 1963 Vienna convention on consular relations and the 1965 bilateral Consular convention, the British authorities must immediately notify the embassy about a detention of a Russian citizen. They did not do that," the diplomats underscored. "Therefore, immediately after reports appeared in the local media, the embassy filed an official inquiry to the Foreign Office for confirmation and corresponding explanations. We demanded an immediate notification regarding the reasons and the circumstances of the arrest, as well as the location and detention conditions of the Russian citizen, as well as provision of an interpreter and a lawyer to this person. We requested access of consular employees to Dmitry Ovsyannikov, if he has indeed been detained."

The embassy underscored that London must do all this in accordance with the signed conventions.

On Wednesday, The Times reported that Ovsyannikov was detained in his London residence on January 22. He is being suspected of violation of the sanctions regime and money laundering. Ovsyannikov has been on the UK Foreign Office sanctions list since November, 2017, which implies an arrest of his assets in the country and restriction of his access to financial services.

In 2016-2019, Ovsyannikov served as the Governor of Sevastopol; in October, 2019, he became the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia. Following the scandal he staged on April 5, 2020, in the airport of Izhevsk, Ovsyannikov was expelled from the United Russia party, while Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin redeemed him of office as deputy minister.