Today, marking Russia’s two years of unprovoked and unlawful full-scale war against Ukraine and in response to the death of opposition politician and anticorruption activist Aleksey Navalny, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning almost 300 individuals and entities. Together with actions from the U.S. Department of State (State), this is the largest number of sanctions imposed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. State is designating three Government of Russia officials in connection with Navalny’s death; together, Treasury and State are sanctioning over 500 targets to impose additional costs for Russia’s repression, human rights abuses, and aggression against Ukraine. The Department of Commerce is also adding more than 90 companies to the Entity List.
To deny Russia the resources necessary to support its brutal war against Ukraine, Treasury is designating targets including a major cog in Russia’s financial infrastructure; more than two dozen third-country sanctions evaders in Europe, East Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East; and hundreds of entities in Russia’s military-industrial base and other key sectors.
“This solemn anniversary and Aleksey Navalny’s death in Russian custody are stark and tragic reminders of Putin’s brazen disregard for human life, from Ukrainians suffering the costs of his unprovoked war to people across Russia who dare to expose the corrupt abuses that fuel his regime,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “Russia’s economy and military-industrial base are showing clear signs of weakness in part due to the actions we, along with our partners and allies around the world, have taken to support Ukraine’s brave defense. Putin has mortgaged the present and future of the Russian people for his own aims to subjugate Ukraine. The Kremlin chooses to reorient its economy to build weapons to kill its neighbors at the expense of the economic future of its own people. But we must sustain our support for Ukraine even as we weaken Russia’s war machine. It’s critical that Congress steps up to join our allies around the world in giving Ukraine the means to defend itself and its freedom against Putin’s barbarous assault.”
State’s concurrent actions include sanctions on those involved in supporting Russian future energy revenue sources, maintaining Russia’s capacity to wage its war of aggression, and facilitating sanctions evasion and circumvention. State is also taking steps to impose visa restrictions on Russian Federation-installed purported authorities involved in the transfer, deportation, and confinement of Ukraine’s children.
Since February 2022, the U.S. government has deployed a number of economic tools aimed at disrupting and degrading Russia’s economy and war machine. Over the last two years, including today, the Departments of the Treasury and State have designated over 4,000 entities and individuals pursuant to Russia-related sanctions authorities. Treasury’s actions, alongside those of its partners across the globe, are restricting Russia’s ability to generate the revenue it needs to fund its war and disrupting the Kremlin’s efforts to build a wartime economy.
RUSSIA’S FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
OFAC is targeting Russia’s core financial infrastructure, including the operator of the Mir National Payment System and Russian banks, investment firms, and financial technology (fintech) companies, to further implement G7 commitments to curtail Russia’s use of the international financial system to further its war against Ukraine.
National Payment Card System Joint Stock Company (NSPK) is the state-owned operator of Russia’s Mir National Payment System. NSPK is owned by the Central Bank of Russia and plays a key role in facilitating financial transactions both internal to Russia and abroad. The Government of Russia’s proliferation of Mir has permitted Russia to build out a financial infrastructure that enables Russian efforts to evade sanctions and reconstitute severed connections to the international financial system. The United States has repeatedly emphasized the risks of the Mir system to our partners around the globe.
NSPK was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.