United States imposes penalties on network helping Russia

 The United States on Monday imposed penalties on 14 people and 28 businesses it claimed were a part of a global network that bought equipment to aid Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine. The measures were aimed at the supply networks used by the Russian military.

Additionally, the US Treasury targeted Suleiman Kerimov’s relatives as well as people it claimed served as financial intermediaries in Suleiman’s network.

“The United States will continue to disrupt Russia’s military supply chains and impose high costs on President Putin’s enablers, as well as all those who support Russia’s brutality against its neighbor,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

A Russian microelectronics firm called Milandr that Washington claims is a part of Moscow’s military R&D infrastructure was put on the blacklist by the U.S. Treasury. Along with several company executives, it has also designated three entities connected to the company.

The Russian embassy in Washington called the new round of sanctions “blackmail”.

“Apparently, the administration does not realize in any way that restrictions are unable to influence the sovereign foreign policy of our country,” the embassy said in a statement on its Telegram messaging app.

The Commerce Department has stopped exports of American-made parts and technologies that were used in some of Russia’s military hardware, and the U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions on significant Russian military industrial firms.

Drones that Russia acquired from Iran were used to strike Ukrainian cities and power facilities. As a result of Tehran’s nuclear development programme, the United States has already imposed severe sanctions on Iranian military groups and enterprises.