The US Department of the Treasury (DOT) Wednesday announced sanctions against two members of the violent Russian extremist group known as the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM). The DOT imposed sanctions on Stanislav Shevchuk and Alexander Zhuchkovsky pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 13224. 

EO 13224 “gives the U.S. Government a powerful tool to impede terrorist funding and is part of our national commitment to lead the international effort to bring a halt to the evil of terrorist activity.” RIM is a right-wing white supremacist militant organization based out of St. Petersburg, Russia. In April 2020, the US designated RIM as global terrorists and took action to counter the threat.

The DOT sanctioned Shevchuk after he traveled to the US “in 2017 with the objective of establishing connections between RIM and far-right extremist and white nationalist groups.” Shevchuk also spoke at rallies on behalf of RIM and publicly advocated for RIM.

The DOT sanctioned Zhuchkovsky as a result of his repeated use of a Russian-based social media platform VK in order to “fundraise and recruit for RIM.” Zhuchkovsky also “taught at RIM’s Partizan training center in St. Petersburg, Russia, where participants receive training to conduct acts of terrorism and violence.”

The sanctions against Shevchuk and Zhuchkovsky include the blocking and reporting to the the DOT’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) “all property and interests in property of the individuals named above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons.”

The DOT stated “[t]he ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.”