U.S.Hits Russian Military Procurement Network With New Sanctions

The U.S. on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on Russia, targeting a network that is accused of procuring military and dual-use technologies from U.S. manufacturers and supplying them to Russian users, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Russian national Yury Yuryevich Orekhov, whom it accused of being a procurement agent, and two of his companies – Nord-Deutsche Industrieanlagenbau (NDA) GmbH and Opus Energy Trading LLC.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that Orekhov, via NDA GmbH, is responsible for procuring U.S.-origin technologies for Russian end-users and these technologies include advanced semiconductors and microprocessors used in fighter aircraft, ballistic and hypersonic missile systems, smart munitions, radar, satellites, and other military applications, components of which have been found in Russian weapons platforms in Ukraine.

As such, Blinken noted. Orekhov and his companies have directly contributed to the Kremlin’s unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine.  "This is also a reminder of how the Russian military is suffering from major supply shortages in Ukraine, in part because of our sanctions and export controls," he added.

In addition to sanctions, nearly a dozen individuals and several corporate entities have been charged with participating in unlawful schemes to export civil-military and dual-use technologies to Russia, the U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday night.

Some of the technologies have been recovered in Ukraine, while another nuclear proliferation technology was intercepted before reaching Russian soil, the FBI said.

The State Department on Wednesday also reacted to Vladimir Putin's "martial law" order in the areas the Kremlin claims to have annexed.

“It should be no surprise to anybody that Russia is resorting to desperate tactics to try and enforce control in these areas,” deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said during daily briefing.

“The truth is that Russia is not wanted in these regions, and the people in Ukraine are rejecting Russia’s illegal invasion and seizure by force of what is Ukrainian territory,” Patel said in response to TURAN's Washington correspondent's questions.

He went on to stress that “no matter what the Kremlin says or does, no matter what they try to enact via decree via paper or otherwise, Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia are Ukrainian sovereign territory.”

“They have no legal claim whatsoever. There is no jurisdiction that they have over those territories. This is Ukraine’s land and Russia has blatantly violated Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as violating the UN Charter with their illegal acts,” Patel said.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.