US Issues Additional Sanctions on Russian Oligarchs
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued more sanctions on Russian elites and their families who "provide direct and indirect support to the Government of the Russian Federation" by identifying certain property of these persons as blocked. The designees include Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, Nikolay Burhanovich Tokarev, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, and their families. The sanctions were done "in close coordination with the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, the ROK, and Australia," according to the OFAC annoucement.
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In addition, the White House announced "full blocking sanctions on an expansive new list of Russian elites and their family members who enable Putin." Boris Rotenberg, Arkady Rotenberg, Sergei Chemezov, Igor Shuvalov and Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, are others listed by the White House.
One goal of the sanctions is to "prevent Russian elites from getting their money out of Russia," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo during an interview with The Washington Post. "Our goal is to find and freeze that money ... in order to make sure it can no longer support the Kremlin," Adeyemo said. A key change in this round of sanctions, according to Adeyemo, is that President Joe Biden has given the authority "to go after family members ... or known associates" of Russian elites. The Treasury Department is also looking at how sanctions can get "past the shields and structures" Russian elites have used to hide their wealth.
OFAC also designated 26 Russia- and Ukraine-based individuals and seven Russian entities in connection with Russia’s efforts to promulgate disinformation and influence perceptions. The Department of State is also sanctioning 22 Russian defense-related firms.