Labour has accused the Conservatives of having “dangerous links” to Vladimir Putin, after it was revealed the Tories accepted money from a donor linked to the Russian regime.
Figures published by the Electoral Commission on Wednesday showed the Conservatives accepted a total of £80,000 from Lubov Chernukhin at the end of last year.
Chernukhin is the wife of Vladimir Chernukhin, Putin’s former deputy finance minister.
She donated £13,750 in October and £66,500 in December, just months before Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine.
Western intelligence warned in December of the looming attack as Russian troops gathered on the border.
In total, Chernukhin, a British citizen who is allowed to make donations, has given £2m to the Conservative Party.
But Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said the government’s “dangerous links to Putin’s cronies must be rooted out”.
“If this government is serious about taking the toughest measures to eradicate Putin’s influence in Britain, they must first get their own house in order,” she said.
Earlier, Boris Johnson said Putin’s actions in Ukraine “already fully qualifies as a war crime”.