The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday, March 15, designated six Russian individuals and eight entities in response to Russia’s continued and ongoing aggression in Ukraine, including in the Kerch Strait.
The U.S. action targets individuals and entities playing a role in Russia’s unjustified attacks on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Kerch Strait, the purported annexation of Crimea, and backing of illegitimate Nov 11 elections in eastern Ukraine's Donbas, according to the U.S. Treasury.
In turn, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland has announced sanctions on 114 individuals and 15 entities, under the Special Economic Measures Act.
These sanctions are "in response to Russia’s military actions against three Ukrainian vessels and the capture of Ukrainian sailors in the Black Sea in November 2018" and "coordinated with the European Union and the United States," underscoring "continued transatlantic unity in responding to Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine and its violation of international law."
Canada is also sanctioning a number of individuals and entities responsible for the illegal invasion and ongoing occupation of Crimea and the destabilization of eastern Ukraine.
Read alsoEU adds eight Russian officials to sanctions list
“The United States and our transatlantic partners will not allow Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine to go unchecked. This joint initiative with our partners in the European Union and Canada reinforces our shared commitment to impose targeted and meaningful sanctions in response to the Kremlin’s attempts to disregard international norms and undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.
“The international community is strongly aligned against Russia’s naval attacks in the Kerch Straight, purported annexation of Crimea, and support for the illegitimate separatist-conducted elections in eastern Ukraine,” the statement reads.
New companies on the U.S. sanctions list are the following: Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant, Zelenodolsk Shipyard Plant named after A.M. Gorky, AO Kontsern Okeanpribor (Okeanpribor), PAO Zvezda (Zvezda), AO Zavod Fiolent (Fiolent), GUP RK KTB Sudokompozit (Sudokompozit), LLC SK Consol-Stroi LTD, and LLC Novye Proekty.
OFAC also designated the following individuals: Gennadiy Medvedev, the Deputy Director of the Border Guard Service of Russia’s Federal Security Service; Sergey Stankevich, the Head of the Border Directorate of Russia’s Federal Security Service; and Andrey Shein, the Deputy Head of the Border Directorate and Head of the Coast Guard Unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service; and Ruslan Romashkin, the Head of the Service Command Point of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.
Among sanctioned individuals there is also Aleksey Alekseevich Naydenko, a Deputy Chair of the Central Election Commission of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, and Vladimir Yurievich Vysotsky, who is a Secretary of Central Election Commission of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.
