US imposes new sanctions on Russia
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has decided to impose new sanctions on Russia in response to Russia’s constant disregard for international laws, the department announced in a press release on December 19.
The OFAC announced new restrictions on a former officer of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) who acted in the interests of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
The new sanctions also affect 15 GRU staff members for a wide range of criminal activity, including the attempted interference in the 2016 US elections.
“The treasury is expanding the sanctions to Russian intelligence staff who have been involved in cyber operations, interference in the 2016 elections, and a wide range of other atrocities,” said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Former GRU member Viktor Boyarkin has been placed on the sanctions list for his direct work for Deripaska. He is also accused of financing a political party in Montenegro before its 2016 elections.
The new sanctions will also hit a number Russian legal and physical entities connected to the Lakhta project, including IRA, Nevskie Novosti, Economics Today, the Federal News Agency, and USA Really.
The document also mentions the head of the USA Really propaganda project, Alexander Malkevich, and the head of the Lakhta project, Elena Khusyanova.
In addition, separate points refer to GRU officers who have interfered in electoral processes abroad, and organized cyberattacks on the International Anti-Doping Agency and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or the Novichok chemical weapons attack in the UK:
Viktor Netishko, Boris Antonov, Ivan Yermakov, Alexei Lukashev, Nikolai Kozachek, Artem Malyshev, Alexander Osadchuk, Alexei Potemkin, Anatoly Kovalev, Alexei Morenets, Yevgeny Serebyakov, Oleg Sotnikov, Alexei Minin, Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
In November, the US launched a mechanism to investigate a package of new severe measures against Russia unofficially dubbed the “draconian sanctions”. The first stage of US sanctions against Russia for the Skripal poisoning began in August.