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Russian President Vladimir Putin's former judo partner Arkady Rotenberg has gained a partial victory in a court battle, which had been continuing for eight years, over a Surrey mansion worth £27 million.

The mansion has been the centre of contention in the divorce the Russian billionaire is seeking from a ballerina.

Billionaire gas pipe tycoon Rotenberg, whose entry into the United Kingdom has been banned under sanctions imposed after Russia invaded Ukraine, has been fighting with Natalia Rotenberg in the London courts since 2016.

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The matrimonial home at the centre of the dispute includes a 42ft swimming pool, cinema, staff quarters, wine cellar, games and an underground garage to park six limousines.

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A fresh set of financial sanctions was imposed by British ministers in 2020 on 73-year-old Rotenberg, who is believed to be one of the richest people in the world after he was seen to have “benefited from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine”.

Here's what the court said over the property dispute

Justice Peel, after listening to the case in the High Court, ruled that the 43-year-old former wife of the tycoon had lost all claims on the property after they left the United Kingdom and did not engage with the litigation in the past two years.

Justice Peel said that Rotenberg "is well known as a close associate of President Putin," and added that after the divorce was granted by the court in 2016, Rotenberg left the UK in 2018 along with the children and did not return.

"Since then, she has remarried an Armenian citizen and herself obtained Armenian citizenship. She is permanently resident there and runs a business in the capital. Since July 2022 there has been no engagement by her or by lawyers in this country on her behalf. I am confident this was not due to lack of resources, not least because she received £8.65m from Mr Rotenberg in 2016," the judge said.

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"I am told that she is in dispute with former solicitors in this country. In the course of those proceedings, she has not attended court, has breached numerous orders and has had a 21-day sentence of imprisonment imposed on her for contempt of court, which is yet to be enforced," he added.

"Mrs Rotenberg's application for...a declaration that Mr Rotenberg is the beneficial owner of the property (is) automatically dismissed. She has not engaged either with the court or the other parties since mid-2022, save for a brief email from French lawyers from which nothing ensued," the judge further stated.

(With inputs from agencies)