Roman Abramovich faces questions over his vow to donate cash from his £3bn Chelsea sale to charity

Roman Abramovich is facing further questions about his promise to donate the 'net proceeds' of any sale of Chelsea to victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine after the UK's security minister admitted he did not know what the term meant.

The Russian billionare on Wednesday night sensationally confirmed Chelsea is up for sale and that he is writing off the £1.5billion debt he is owed by the club.

Abramovich - who has reported links to the Russian regime - is seeking to distance himself from Vladimir Putin and sanctions imposed on Russia by the west over its devastating and illegal invasion, while pressure grows on the British government to include the billionaire among the wealthy Russians to be targeted in sanctions.

MailOnline reported on Wednesday morning however that Chelsea had been put on the market, with an asking price of at least £3billion.

In a statement on the Blues' website: Abramovich said: 'I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated.

'The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine. This includes providing critical funds towards the urgent and immediate needs of victims, as well as supporting the long-term work of recovery.'

However, speaking to Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning, UK security minister Damian Hinds admitted he was unsure with what Abramovich means by the term 'net proceeds', before insisting sanctions would become more severe in the coming days.

Asked if he understood what the 'net proceeds' part of Abramovich's statement specifically referred to, Mr Hinds replied: 'No, because you can define net proceeds in different ways, as any corporate financier would tell you.

'I am focused on making sure we have the sanctions programme working as effectively as it can do.

'If you look at what has happened with the value of the Rubel and the value of the Moscow Stock Exchange, and the difficulties the organisations are now having in operating, that is having bite.

'But we want to go further. We have got legislation currently going through Parliament.

'On Monday, we will be debating the bolstering of unexplained wealth orders and a new register to make it absolutely transparent who owns high-end property and who could be using it for money laundering.

'We are going to go further and inflict the pain on this regime.

'We have been putting sanctions in place against individuals as well as organisations, and restrictions on the financial system,' he added.

'There is more to come. It would be neither right nor wise of me to comment on individuals. I don't think we should let individuals know what is going to happen to them before it happens.

'I wouldn't talk about an individual case unless and until there were measures in place. People should know we have already put in place sanctions on individuals and there will be more to come.'

Mr Hinds was not the only person left confused by the term, with many taking to social media to express their confusion.

One wrote: 'Nobody would buy the club with a debt of $2billion. And what exactly does he mean by ''net proceeds''? Sounds like he will recover his 'loan' from the sale and any pennies left would be donated.'

Meanwhile, another added: 'Wild if Abramovich is allowed to recoup any funds rn from a Chelsea fire sale. The ''net proceeds to Ukrainian charities'' is the sandiest of sand in the eyes. Freeze/confiscate UK assets that hurt Russian oligarchs.'

One other user meanwhile simply tweeted: ''Net proceeds'

Earlier, it was reported Abramovich had already begun a 'fire sale' of his sprawling London portfolio as he tries to offload Chelsea and £200million worth of properties - with an MP claiming the Russian billionaire is acting quickly to stop his assets being frozen.

Labour's Chris Bryant, using parliamentary privilege to avoid legal action, alleged the tycoon is selling his home and an apartment because he is 'terrified of being sanctioned', adding that he feared the government will soon run out of time to act.

Abramovich is worth £10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a £150m Kensington mansion, a £22m penthouse, and more than £1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars in Britain and globally.

Abramovich however has instructed American bank the Raine Group to handle the sale of west London club Chelsea.

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss claims he has been approached and is considering an offer as part of a consortium which also includes Todd Boehly, the co-owner of baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers.

There are strong indications that Abramovich will receive at least two firm offers for Chelsea by the end of the week, but a buy-out could be spoiled if Abramovich is sanctioned by the UK Government.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer challenged Boris Johnson in Parliament on Wednesday about why Abramovich has not yet been sanctioned, with the Prime Minister replying: 'It is not appropriate to comment on individual cases.'

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has previously said she has a 'hit list' of oligarchs they are targeting, but has not named all of them.

Abramovich has never held UK citizenship, and made his fortune selling assets purchased from the state when the USSR broke up. He vehemently denies being close to the Kremlin or doing anything that would merit sanctions.