US sanctions 400 entities, including from China, for aiding Russia in war against Ukraine

WASHINGTON: The United States has sanctioned about 400 more individuals and entities in Russia and China among others over their support for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The US Treasury Department, in a release on August 23, stated that it has targeted companies and individuals “whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its military efforts and evade sanctions”.

The sanctions list includes 34 Russians, including Pavel Belousov, the son of the Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, Russian news agency TASS reported. Apart from Russians and Chinese, citizens of Belarus, Italy, Turkey, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland have also been hit by the US sanctions.

Further, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that it is taking aggressive action to further restrict the supply of both US-origin and “US branded” (i.e., labeled) items to Russia and Belarus for the Kremlin’s illegal war on Ukraine.

.@USTreasury and @StateDept targeted nearly 400 individuals and entities both in Russia and outside its borders—including in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East—whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort against Ukraine and evade sanctions. https://t.co/D8P09leOIX

— Treasury Department (@USTreasury) August 23, 2024

The BIS has added 123 entities under 131 entries to the Entity List — 63 entities in Russia or the Crimea Region of Ukraine, 42 in China including Hong Kong and 14 entities in Turkiye, Iran and Cyprus. Since March 2022, the BIS has added 1,056 entries to the Entity List in response to Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and ongoing aggression against the country.

The United States government will continue to support Ukraine as it defends its independence and hold Russia accountable for its aggression, said the US Treasury Department.

“We remain concerned by the magnitude of dual-use goods exports from the PRC to Russia,” the State Department said in release on August 23. “Imports from the PRC are filling critical gaps in Russia’s defence production cycle, thereby enabling it to produce weapons, ramp up defense production, and bolster its military-industrial base”, it said.

Two major Chinese machine tool suppliers and six Chinese electronic component suppliers are also on the list of US sanctioned companies.

Several Chinese or Hong Kong companies were also sanctioned for their support of the Russian company Special Technology Center, which makes surveillance and reconnaissance drones, along with businesses from Russia, the UAE and Turkey.

“Russia has turned its economy into a tool in service of the Kremlin’s military industrial complex. 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”, said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.

“Companies, financial institutions, and governments around the world need to ensure they are not supporting Russia’s military-industrial supply chains,” Adeyemo added.

The State Department said it is targeting entities and individuals involved in Russia’s future energy, metals, and mining production and exports, sanctions evasion, Russia’s military-industrial base, including armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) production, Belarusian support for Russia’s war effort, and air logistics entities; additional subsidiaries of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and malign actors involved in the attempted, forcible “re-education” of Ukraine’s children.

Hong Kong, Turkey and Russian business affiliates of Russian national Maxim Marchenko, who was arrested by the FBI in September 2023 for smuggling microelectronics out of the U.S., were also targeted in the August 23 sanctions package.

The US has also announced sanctions against Turkish, Russian and UAE companies that supply microelectronic components and targeted mostly Russian companies in the sectors of energy production, air transport, heavy machinery, diamonds and titanium, bullet-proof glass and armor and Belarusian companies and individuals supplying armoured vehicle components to Russia.

Washington has also imposed sanctions on Palau and Panama-flagged tankers intended for the transportation of liquefied natural gas: Asya Energy, Everest Energy, North Air, North Mountain, North Sky, North Way and Pioneer.

Swiss national Anton Daniel Wyss (Wyss) has been dubbed a major enabler of Russian cash flow in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and has been sanctioned for using his his Liechtenstein-based trust and corporate services provider (TCSP) Audax Consulting Trust Establishment (Audax) “to obfuscate Russian beneficial ownership and investments into foreign ventures.”

The US Treasury said it is targeting numerous transnational networks, including those involved in procuring ammunition and military materiel for Russia, facilitating sanctions evasion for Russian oligarchs through offshore trust and corporate formation services, evading sanctions imposed on Russia’s cyber actors, laundering gold for a sanctioned Russian gold company, and supporting Russia’s military-industrial base by procuring sensitive and critical items such as advanced machine tools and electronic components.

The August 23 sanctions further limit Russia’s future revenue from metals and mining. The US Treasury said it is also targeting Russian financial technology companies that provide necessary software and IT solutions for Russia’s financial sector.

The sanctions on the Russian and Chinese entities among others came amidst the announcement of a significant new package of urgently needed weapons and equipment by the US to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to his social networking platform X to thank the United States “for approving another round of sanctions today, this time targeting Russia’s fuel and energy sectors, metallurgy, finance, and military-industrial complex. I emphasized the need for continued sanctions pressure on Russia.”

Stating that he had spoken with US President Joe Biden Zelenskyy thanked him “for his warm congratulations on Ukraine’s National Flag Day and the upcoming Independence Day.

“The Ukrainian people are grateful to President Biden, his administration, Congress, and the entire American people for their unwavering support since the first days of the full-scale war. It enables us to endure and protect our statehood”, Zelenskyy posted on X.

“I welcomed the new US military aid package and emphasized that Ukraine urgently requires the delivery of weapons from the announced packages, particularly additional air defence systems, to reliably protect our cities, communities, and critical infrastructure”, the Ukrainian President posted on X. (ANI)