The Russian political world, oligarchs or even the defense industry are in the crosshairs of Washington. The United States announced, Thursday, March 24, new financial sanctions against Russia, in response to the invasion of Ukraine. These measures, which involve in particular a freezing of assets in the United States, concern 328 deputies of the Duma – the Russian Parliament – and the institution itself, as well as 48 “large public enterprises” of the defense sector, according to a press release from the White House, published while the American president, Joe Biden, is in Brussels where he took part in a summit of NATO leaders and a meeting of the G7, two meetings you devoted to the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
The sanctions notably target Tactical Missiles Corporation JSC (KTRV), a state-owned Russian defense conglomerate whose armament is currently deployed in Russia, the US Treasury said in a separate statement. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington would continue to target companies that supply defense equipment to Russia, as well as their own suppliers.
Among the personalities targeted by these sanctions is German Gref, head of the first Russian bank, Sberbank, and “Advisor to Putin since the 1990s”, according to the White House. The billionaire Gennady Timchenko, his companies Volga Group and Transoil, as well as the members of his family, are also concerned, and his yacht, the Lenais blocked.
Seventeen members of the board of directors of the bank Sovcombank are also sanctioned. As for the Duma, it “continues to support Putin’s invasion, to stifle the free flow of information and to undermine the fundamental rights of Russian citizens”, justified the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen.
The leaders of the G7 countries and the European Union also want to continue to prevent the Russian Central Bank from using international reserves, including gold, to block the financing of the war. “By cutting dozens of Russian defense companies from the US financial system, today’s action will have a profound and lasting effect on the Russian defense industry”explained the head of the American diplomacy, Antony Blinken.
Westerners have also announced a stepping up of their action to prevent the targets of sanctions from escaping them. The British government had, a little earlier, announced a new round of retaliatory measures.