U.S. Sanctions Putin's Reputed Girlfriend, MMK Metals Company, and More

The U.S. on Tuesday issued a fresh round of sanctions on Russia, including against metals company MMK, as well as a reported associate of Vladimir Putin and many others, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

After previously declining to sanction Putin's reputed girlfriend, reportedly out of concern about escalating tensions, the Biden administration finally took that step when it froze Alina Kabaeva's visa.

The Treasury Department said that Kabaeva, 39, is the head of a Russian national media company that promotes the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

Many of the new targets on the new Treasury list are already under sanctions imposed by the EU and Britain. The U.K. sanctioned Kabaeva in May and the EU imposed travel and asset restrictions on her in June.

In April, Washington sanctioned Putin’s adult daughters, Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova.

The latest move also blocks Kabaeva from access to any assets in the United States or conducting transactions with Americans, and it denies her a visa to enter the U.S.

“Together with our allies, the United States will also continue to choke off revenue and equipment underpinning Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

Among the Treasury Department's sanction targets are three Kremlin-connected elites. They include Andrey Guryev, “a known close associate” of Mr. Putin who owns Witanhurst, a 25-bedroom mansion and grounds said to be the second-biggest residential property in London, after Buckingham Palace, the department said in a news release.

The Treasury also placed sanctions on Mr. Guryev’s yacht, the Alfa Nero, which he reportedly purchased for $120 million in 2014. The department said the Alfa Nero had reportedly shut off its location-tracking system.

The State Department, in its turn, also announced an additional new round of sanctions on dozens of Russian companies and individuals to further punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, including oligarchs close to Putin and technology institutions with ties to Russia’s military.

“As Ukrainians continue to valiantly defend their homeland in the face of President Putin’s brutal war, Russia’s elite are running massive revenue-generating companies and funding their own opulent lifestyles outside of Russia,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement announcing the measures.

Some names in the new targets include several billionaires: Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, the chairman of a Russian steel manufacturer; Andrey Melnichenko, the founder of fertilizer and coal companies; and Alexander Ponomarenko, a businessman who has “close ties to other oligarchs and the construction of Vladimir Putin’s seaside palace,” according to Blinken.

Also covered under the new measures are two dozen of Russia’s most important defense-related research and development institutions, semiconductor producers, and advanced computing and electronics entities. They include the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, which has developed drones and other devices for Russia’s military.

Putin has “repeatedly underscored his concerns about Russia’s access to microelectronics,” a State Department fact sheet said, asserting that the new measures would deal a fresh blow to Russia’s war machine.

Also on the new U.S. list is the Joint Stock Company State Transportation Leasing Company, a state-owned enterprise that Washington officials identified as Russia’s largest transportation leasing company, and four of its subsidiaries.

In addition, the State Department will impose visa restrictions on another 893 Russian government officials, for hostile actions toward Ukraine, along with 31 foreign government officials who have supported Russia’s claims to Ukrainian territory, Blinken said.

He also added that the U.S, was also imposing sanctions on four men and one organization for “illegitimately operating in Ukraine’s territory in collaboration with Russia.”

One of the four is Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, whom U.S. officials called “the illegitimate mayor of Russia-controlled Mariupol.”

The organization singled out by American officials is the Salvation Committee for Peace and Order, which the State Department said was established in Ukraine’s Kherson region to support Moscow’s efforts to seize control there.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.