The US Wednesday announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russian individuals and entities, as well as a ban of new American investment in Russia and services associated with Russian persons. The sanctions come less than a week after US President Joe Biden called for a “wartime trial” and prosecution of Russia President Vladimir Putin for war crimes committed in Ukraine.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions under Executive Order 14024 to degrade Russia’s economy. US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said of the sanctions: “Russia’s military forces have committed heinous atrocities in Ukraine and the global community must hold them to account. Today we are taking additional steps to cut off Russia from international markets in response to Putin’s continued brutality.”
Among the entities targeted by the new sanctions are Russian state-owned bank holding roughly one third of all bank assets in Russia, Sberbank, and its subsidiaries. Additionally, Russia’s largest privately-owned bank Alfa-Bank and six of its subsidiaries are sanctioned for their operations in Russia’s financial sector.
The new sanctions also target Russian individuals. The sanctions include Putin’s daughters, Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova. The daughter and wife of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are also among individuals sanctioned. Several members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation were also sanctioned. The US previously targeted individual security council members for their role in supporting Putin’s war in Ukraine. The remaining members were sanctioned as a result of Wednesday’s announcement.
In addition to sanctions, Biden also signed a new executive order prohibiting new investment in Russia and certain Russian-provided services. The prohibition extends to Americans living both in the US and abroad.