US Unveils Hundreds of New Russia-Related Sanctions

The Treasury and State departments announced May 1 that they are sanctioning more than 280 entities and people in Russia and third countries for helping Moscow sustain its military industrial base during its war against Ukraine.

The sanctions target more than 100 entities that have operated in Russia’s technology, defense and related material, manufacturing or transportation sectors. The entities are part of a "vast ecosystem" that supports Russia's military, Treasury said.

The sanctions also cover dozens of targets in Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Hong Kong, the Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Singapore, Slovakia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates that have enabled Russia to acquire "desperately needed" equipment and supplies from abroad. Treasury said those imported items include precursors needed to make gunpowder, rocket propellant and other explosives; electronics used in "sensitive military satellites" and unmanned aerial vehicles; and soldering and welding machines that are "critical to electronics production."

“Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia’s war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. “Today’s actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia’s war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it.”

The sanctions also take aim at Russia’s biological and chemical weapons programs, including several entities and people that support those activities. In response to Russia’s use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops in violation of the multilateral Chemical Weapons Convention, the State Department is reimposing export licensing restrictions on Russia under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991.

The sanctions also target Russia's revenue generation from future energy, metals and mining production and export capacity. Among the specific targets is a liquefied natural gas project called Arctic LNG 2; 12 entities within the Sibanthracite group of companies, one of Russia’s largest producers of metallurgical coal, which can be used in steelmaking; and subsidiaries of state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom that distribute machine tools.

Pobeda, a subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot, is designated for illegally obtaining and importing U.S. export-controlled aircraft parts. The sanctions also cover additional people connected to the suspicious death in February of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison.

Treasury also revealed that DOJ filed a forfeiture complaint against a set of Boeing 737-800 aircraft landing gear that a Kyrgyz Republic-based company was trying to ship illegally from the U.S. to Russia. The gear was purchased for $1.55 million and was detained by CBP at Miami International Airport in September 2023.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said he welcomes the new measures but believes "the administration must take further action to stop [China's] growing support to Russia's defense industry."

The new sanctions came a little more than two months after the administration announced more than 500 Russia-related sanctions designations and other measures to mark the two-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and to respond to Navalny’s death (see 2402230035).