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The Biden administration on Friday rolled out new U.S. sanctions against Russia, with American officials describing them as “swift and severe costs we are imposing on Russia for its fraudulent and unlawful annexation of regions of Ukraine.”
The sanctions came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin had signed treaties to annex four occupied areas of Ukraine and said he would use “all available means” to protect the territory that Ukrainian and Western officials said Russia was claiming illegitimately.
The departments of Treasury and Commerce put forward heightened sanctions and export-control risks for entities and individuals inside or outside Russia that provide political or economic support to Russia for its purported annexation, according to a news release from Biden administration officials.
The Treasury Department designated 14 persons in Russia’s military-industrial complex and 278 members of Russia’s legislature for “enabling Russia’s sham referenda and attempt to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory,” a separate release said.
The individuals targeted by Treasury officials include Elvira Sakhipzadovna Nabiullina, the governor of Russia’s central bank, as well as Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin’s wife and adult children, and Minister of Defense Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu’s wife and adult children.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said in a release that its new actions include imposing visa restrictions on 910 individuals, including members of the Russian Federation military, Belarusian military officials and Russia’s proxies, as well as “designating Russian national, Ochur-Suge Mongush, for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights perpetrated against a Ukrainian prisoner of war.”
The Commerce Department said in a release said it has issued a rule that targets 57 entities located in Russia and the Crimea region of Ukraine.
“Commerce is also publishing new guidance which sends a clear warning that the current United States’ export controls on Russia can be applied to entities in third countries that seek to provide material support for Russia’s and Belarus’s military and industrial sectors,” the release said.
