- June 9, 2026
- 10:36 pm
- World News
The money from the sale of the London football club Chelsea has once again become the center of a major war — legal, political, and military at the same time.
It’s not just about the frozen billions of Roman Abramovich. It’s about whether the money of the Russian oligarch, who also holds Israeli citizenship, can be used not only for humanitarian aid to Ukraine but also for the protection of Ukrainian cities from Russian missiles, drones, and strikes on energy infrastructure.
On June 8, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian: the topic of these funds was discussed with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during negotiations in London.
The amount is about 2.4–2.5 billion pounds sterling. The source is the sale of Chelsea FC in 2022, after Roman Abramovich fell under British sanctions amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
From Chelsea to Ukrainian air defense: why the dispute over money has become a matter of survival
Initially, the British government considered these funds as money for humanitarian support for Ukrainians affected by the war. This logic is understandable: destroyed homes, refugees, the wounded, families of the deceased, the restoration of basic life.
But in 2026, Kyiv is raising the issue more strictly.
When Russia continues to strike Ukrainian cities, power plants, substations, hospitals, residential areas, and critical infrastructure, humanitarian aid begins not only with recovery after a strike. It begins with intercepting that strike in the air.
That is why Volodymyr Zelensky proposed using the frozen money from the sale of Chelsea to purchase modern anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems. In an interview with The Guardian, he directly linked these funds to the purchase of expensive American anti-ballistic missiles through the PURL program — a mechanism that allows European allies to pay for the supply of American weapons to Ukraine.
Zelensky’s logic is extremely simple: if Russia started this war, then why shouldn’t Russian money work against Russian missiles?
For the Israeli audience, this thought is especially understandable. In Israel, it is well known that air defense is not an abstract military term, but a matter of life, electricity, water, hospitals, schools, and a normal morning after a night alarm. In this sense, Ukraine increasingly speaks to the world in a language that Israel understands without translation.
What is known about Abramovich’s money
Roman Abramovich sold Chelsea FC in 2022, already under UK sanctions. The British authorities allowed the deal on the condition that the proceeds would not benefit Abramovich himself or other sanctioned individuals, but would be directed to aid Ukraine.
Since then, the money has remained blocked in the British financial system.
In December 2025, the UK government publicly stated that Abramovich must fulfill his promise and transfer more than 2.5 billion pounds to aid Ukraine, otherwise London is ready to go to court. Prime Minister Keir Starmer then said that ‘the clock is ticking,’ and every penny must reach the people whose lives were destroyed by Putin’s war.
In March 2026, The Guardian reported that British officials were already preparing for a possible court case because the deadline for unblocking the money had been missed.
And now, in June 2026, Zelensky raises the stakes: Ukraine needs not only humanitarian programs after destruction but also systems that will prevent these destructions from happening.
Kyiv, London, and Abramovich: diplomacy with a touch of irony
A separate part of this story is related to the personal contacts of Roman Abramovich and the Ukrainian leadership.
According to the Financial Times, in May 2026, Abramovich visited Kyiv. Sources of the publication claimed that Volodymyr Zelensky used this channel to send a signal to Putin about readiness for direct negotiations. Kyiv, according to this version, wanted to show: Ukraine does not refuse diplomacy but is not going to accept Moscow’s ultimatums.
The main condition remained the same: there can be no withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas as a preliminary payment for the conversation.
This is an important detail. The Kremlin has been trying for years to substitute negotiations with capitulation, and Kyiv continues to separate two things: the willingness to talk and the willingness to surrender territory. These are not the same.
Zelensky also recalled the meeting with Abramovich in Kyiv with noticeable irony in an interview with The Guardian. According to him, the businessman did not bring money with him, although the Ukrainian side directly stated that these funds were needed.
The phrase sounds almost like a political joke, but behind it lies a harsh reality: while lawyers argue about funds, licenses, conditions, and formulations, Russian missiles continue to fly over Ukraine.
Why Israel should pay close attention to this story
For Israel, there are several layers here.
The first is the Russian-Israeli oligarchic trail. Abramovich is not just a Russian billionaire, he is also a citizen of Israel. This makes the plot sensitive for the Israeli audience because the war in Ukraine once again enters the space of Israeli politics, business, reputation, and morality.
The second layer is security. Ukraine is asking for money not for symbolic gestures, but for air defense. Israelis, after October 7, amid threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, missiles, drones, and the constant need to keep the country on alert, understand perfectly well: protecting the sky costs a lot of money, but its absence costs much more.
The third layer is precedent. If frozen Russian assets can be used to protect the victims of Russian aggression, it will be a signal to everyone who is used to keeping money in London, Europe, or other safe jurisdictions while their political homeland destroys neighboring countries.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency views this story not as a football scandal and not as a personal drama of a billionaire, but as part of a broader picture: the Russian war has long gone beyond the front and has become a test for banks, courts, sanctions, allies, and reputations.
Professional army, sanctions, and ‘shadow fleet’: what else Zelensky said
In an interview with the British publication, Zelensky spoke not only about Chelsea’s money.
One of the important blocks is the transition of the Ukrainian army to a more professional contract model. Kyiv is asking partners to help not only with equipment but also with financing decent salaries for the military. The idea is to gradually reduce dependence on forced mobilization and make service more sustainable, motivated, and professional.
This is also not an abstract topic.
After more than four years of full-scale war, Ukraine faces societal fatigue, demographic pressure, a shortage of people, and the need to hold the front against a country that throws huge human resources into the war. Money for the army here means not luxury, but the state’s ability to continue resistance without internal collapse.
In return, Ukraine offers its allies its combat experience, technologies, and practical knowledge. This includes drones, electronic warfare, countering Russian missiles, protecting energy infrastructure, mobile defense, and new tactical solutions that were born not in laboratories but in real war.
Sanctions: Zelensky demands no loopholes, but synchronized pressure
Another line is sanctions against Russia.
Zelensky criticized the situation where British rules temporarily allowed the import of Russian oil products and aviation fuel through third countries. Formally, this may look like a technical detail. In practice, such loopholes turn into oxygen for the Russian military machine.
Ukraine demands that the UK, the European Union, and other partners act synchronously. If one door is closed and another is left half-open, Moscow quickly learns to bypass restrictions.
On June 9, 2026, Reuters reported that the European Union proposed the 21st package of sanctions against Russia. It should include measures against almost 90 banks, crypto platforms, oil traders, companies related to drone production, as well as new restrictions against ships of the Russian ‘shadow fleet.’
This ‘shadow fleet’ is not just a flotilla of old tankers. It is a tool through which Russia tries to sell oil, bypass price caps, confuse routes, change owners, flags, and insurance. For the Kremlin, oil remains one of the main sources of money for the war.
Therefore, sanctions against such ships are not bureaucracy. It is an attempt to hit the fuel of Russian aggression.
The main point: Russian money should work against the Russian war
The story with Abramovich’s money shows how complex the war of the 21st century has become. Soldiers fight on the front, missiles and drones operate in the sky, lawyers argue in courts, frozen billions lie in banks, and in diplomatic offices, it is decided whether these funds can be turned into real protection for people.
Ukraine tells the West: the time for humanitarian formulations has not passed, but one humanitarian logic is no longer enough.
If Russian missiles destroy Ukrainian cities, then Russian assets should help shoot down these missiles. If Russian oil finances the war, then the shadow fleet should lose routes, insurance, and access to ports. If Russian banks build bypass schemes, then sanctions should catch up with them faster than Moscow invents new chains.
For Israel, this is also a lesson.
In a world where aggressors operate through missiles, money, fleets, propaganda, third countries, and gray schemes, security is no longer limited to the front line. It begins in the bank, continues in court, passes through the sanctions list, and ends in the sky over a city where people just want to sleep without a siren.
That is why the dispute over billions from the sale of Chelsea is no longer about football.
It’s a question of whether the free world is ready to make the aggressor’s money protect those whom the aggressor is trying to destroy.