Anastasiya Gutorova is a senior associate at Simpson Grierson, but has also been named as an elite lawyer, a rising star and now – thanks to the outrage of Russia’s barbaric attack upon her former homeland, an Antipodes-based resistance fighter who has taken the fight to Jacinda Ardern’s government, seeking tough sanctions against Russia, its oligarchs and other enablers.
Ms Gutorova’s full page advertisement in the Sunday Times and her social media posts raise the question of just how far the New Zealand government should go to join the global sanctions against Russia for its punishing, barbaric attack upon Ukraine.
Having lived in New Zealand for 16 years, she says her entire family remain in Ukraine – “all are suffering,” she wrote.
She chastised the government in New Zealand, who have now announced some sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs, that “a couple of sternly worded soundbites in a press briefing are not actions.”
“Our commitment to eventually send $2 million in aid is so weak it could almost be considered a tacit endorsement. It certainly will be in Moscow.”
She acknowledged the outpouring of support from kiwis towards other Ukrainian kiwis, saying “we all see the need and desperately want to help. We are all waiting for you to lead us, with actions and not just platitudes.”
“We need to target Putin’s supporters to undermine his power base in a way that doe snot indiscriminately affect ordinary Russians,” she wrote. “That is the only meaningful step we can take to stop the war.
“I ask you to introduce the strongest possible sanctions against his corrupt regime and his close3st supporters, the oligarchs, including by freezing and confiscating their New Zealand assets, as so many other countries around the world are doing.”
She also requested additional humanitarian assistance, as well as increasing the refugee quota.
Anastasiya Gutorov is in Simpson Grierson’s commercial team, having worked on a range of deals including Oceana Healthcare’s capital raising, Vista Group deals and Comvita’s capital raising.
