The U.K. corrected or amended one entry each under its sanctions regimes covering Russia, ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation updated the listings for Ilya Borisovich Brodskiy, 'Abd Al-Rahman Muhammad Mustafa Al-Qaduli, Willy Ngoma and Konstantin Aleksendrovitch Pikalov, respectively.
The EU announced its 13th sanctions package on Russia last week to mark two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, imposing designations against another 194 people and companies while expanding the list of advanced technology items that Russia is seeking for its defense and technology sectors.
DOJ last week announced a guilty plea and indictments as part of a scheme by Russians to illegally use U.S.-based companies to transfer and launder money.
DOJ last week announced a set of new charges, arrests and forfeiture proceedings to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The agency announced forfeiture actions involving $2.5 million in luxury properties, arrested two U.S. residents for helping a Russian violate sanctions, charged two sanctioned oligarchs with violating U.S. restrictions and more.
The Treasury Department published an analysis of the Russian oil price cap last week, saying that sanctions enforcement is “successfully forcing” Russia to sell oil at a discount, although Russian oil export markets have remained stable. The analysis includes data that tracks the price of Russian oil over the last two years and analyzes how the country’s revenue and exports have changed over time.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Russian state-owned shipping company and fleet operator Joint Stock Company Sovcomflot along with 14 of its crude oil tankers. Deputy Treasury Secretary said the designation will deal a “huge blow” to Russia’s shadow fleet operations (see 2303230010), which it uses to try to evade the global price cap on Russian oil.
The U.S. announced a new set of sweeping Russia-related export controls and sanctions last week to mark the two-year anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and to respond to Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny's death in prison. The measures include nearly 100 additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, more than 500 sanctions designations by the Treasury and State departments and new government guidance, including a new business advisory to warn companies about Russia-related compliance risks.
The European Council on Feb. 22 added six people and one entity to its Moldova sanctions regime for undermining the sovereignty of Moldova. The entity, Scutul Poporului, has "made repeated attempts" to undermine Moldovoa's government through riots and violent demonstrations, the council said. The other sanctions target the group's leader, media executives and an official "responsible for Russia's covert operations" in Moldova.
The U.K. added 50 entries to its Russia sanctions regime and two entries to its Belarus regime, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced in a pair of notices this week.
The State Department is offering rewards of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of people with ties to ransomware attacks carried out by LockBit and the group’s key leaders, the agency said this week. The announcement was made alongside new Treasury Department sanctions that designated two Russian nationals for their ties to the Russia-based ransomware group and its cyberattacks (see 2402200033). Since 2020, LockBit has carried out over 2,000 attacks, costing more than $144 million in ransom payments, the State Department said.