Dvorkovich, 54, a former deputy prime minister of Russia and adviser to the Kremlin, now faces an EU travel ban and asset freeze. The EU said his inclusion was due to "publicly supporting the annexation of Crimea and calling occupied Ukrainian cities 'new territories' of the Russian Federation". The EU also cited his presence on the board of the Chess Federation of Russia, external, which has organised tournaments in occupied areas of Ukraine. "We hope never to see this man in the chess world again," said Volodymyr Kovalchuk, first vice president of the Ukrainian Chess Federation. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, Russian national teams were banned from international chess competitions.