Georgian Oligarch, Turkish Companies, Scores of Russian Elites, Businesses Hit With Fresh U.S. Sanctions Over Ukraine

The U.S. State and Treasury departments on Thursday announced one of the biggest sanctions package against Russia, targeting individuals and entities engaged in sanctions evasion and circumvention, "those complicit in furthering Russia’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine, and those responsible for bolstering Russia’s future energy production," as Secretary of State Antony Blinken put it, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The combined efforts from the two departments target more than 150 individuals and companies in Russia, including mining magnate and oligarch Andrei Bokarev, who reportedly has personal ties to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as his family and his business partner, Iskander Makhmudov.

"The Department of State is imposing sanctions on over 70 entities and individuals involved in expanding Russia’s energy production and export capacity, operating in Russia’s metals and mining sectors, and aiding Russian individuals and entities in evading international sanctions," Blinken noted.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko and people associated with the Wagner mercenary group have also been targeted in this package, including for facilitating weapons shipments from North Korea to Russia.

Otar Partskhaladze, Georgia's former prosecutor general, who is widely known as a confidant of Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgia's ruling "Georgian Dream" party, also was targeted. Russia’s Federal Security Service reportedly worked with Partskhaladze to influence Georgian society and politics for Russia’s benefit, the State Department said.

A small number of companies and individuals in Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates were also sanctioned for assisting the Russian war effort.

“With today’s sanctions, the United States is continuing our relentless work to target Russia’s military supply chains and deprive Putin of the equipment, technology, and services he needs to wage his barbaric war on Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a separate statement.

The Treasury, in its package, is imposing nearly 100 sanctions on Russia’s elites and its industrial base, financial institutions, and technology suppliers, including one official of the Wagner Group for advancing Russia’s malign activities in the Central African Republic.

“We have also made clear that those individuals and entities who profit from invasion and their proximity to the Kremlin will be held accountable, and today’s actions show our global reach in imposing severe costs on Putin’s oligarchs,” she added.

Almost 3,000 businesses and individuals — those in the latest package included — have been targeted since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022,.

Alex Raufoglu