One day before Ukraine celebrates its independence, on Friday, the United States announced broad penalties against over 400 people and organizations connected to Russia’s war in that country.
The actions taken against Russia over the invasion, which is already well into its third year, are an addition to the many sanctions already in place, which were declared by the US departments of Treasury, State, and Commerce.
“Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military-industrial complex,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. “Treasury’s actions today continue to implement the commitments made by President Biden and his G7 counterparts to disrupt Russia’s military-industrial base supply chains and payment channels,” he added. Nearly 400 people and organizations, both inside and outside of Russia, are the subject of the sanctions “whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort and evade sanctions,” the department said in the statement. Sixty defense and technology companies with headquarters in Russia were among those sanctioned; they were “critical for the sustainment and development of Russia’s defense industry,” it continued.
In a separate statement, the State Department claimed responsibility for 190 of the penalties, while Treasury was in charge of nearly 200 others.
It added that its designations “aim to disrupt sanctions evasion and target entities in multiple third countries,” including China, along with businesses supporting the development of Russian energy projects. Alongside the sanctions unveiled Friday, the US Commerce Department announced it was taking “aggressive action” to further restrict the supply of items made in the United States, or labeled as such, to both Russia and Belarus, due to “the Kremlin’s illegal war on Ukraine.” “Today’s actions will further constrain Russia’s ability to arm its military by targeting illicit procurement networks designed to circumvent global export controls,” the department said in a statement.
