The United States continuing to Hold Russia to Account for its War against Ukraine

Destroyed residence in Kharkiv, Ukraine following Russian assault on March 1, 2022. Photo: Deposit Photos, Curated Collection. Public Domain

The United States continues to impose costs on Russia for its war of aggression against Ukraine.  Russia’s attacks have devastated Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and caused extraordinary death and destruction.  Today, we are announcing additional sanctions measures on the Russian Federation and its enablers.  Pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024, the Departments of State and the Treasury are taking actions against major actors in Russia’s financial sector, senior government officials connected to mobilization efforts, and proxy authorities installed in Ukraine.

Specifically, the Department of State is imposing sanctions on Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s wealthiest oligarchs and a close associate of President Putin, as well as three members of his immediate family and his company, Interros.  We are also identifying his yacht, Nirvana, as blocked property.  The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Public Joint Stock Company Rosbank, a bank acquired by Potanin earlier this year, for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy.  Similar actions have been taken by the United Kingdom and Canada.

The Department of State is also designating officials helping to advance Russia’s invasion and control of Ukrainian territory, including 29 Russian heads of regions and governors, two of their family members, and an entity owned by one of the family members.  These governors oversee and enforce the conscription of citizens in response to Russia’s recent mobilization order.  We also are designating six proxy authorities and an entity operating on behalf of the Kremlin in Ukraine.  This includes the former “Minister of Internal Affairs” of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, who led a battalion that fought in Mariupol and oversees the operations of filtration camps that facilitate the forced relocation of Ukraine’s citizens to Russia.

The State Department is further holding accountable the corporate leadership of Russian state-owned companies by designating five individuals serving on the Board of Directors of Russian Railways, including two Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia, Andrey Removich Belousov and Dmitriy Nikolaevich Chernyshenko.

In coordination with these designations, OFAC is also designating 17 subsidiaries of VTB Bank, which was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 on February 24, 2022.

Our actions today are a clear message that the United States will not hesitate to continue to use the tools at our disposal to promote an end to, and accountability for, President Putin’s unconscionable war.

Furthering the United States’ Effort to Hold Russia to Account for its War Against Ukraine

The United States is committed to working alongside our allies and partners to further impose severe consequences on President Putin and his enablers for Russia’s unconscionable war against Ukraine. The Department of State is designating the individuals listed below, as well as an entity owned by one of them, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024, which authorizes sanctions with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.

OLIGARCH POTANIN AND HIS NETWORK

• VLADIMIR OLEGOVICH POTANIN (Potanin), one of the wealthiest oligarchs in Russia, formerly served as a Deputy Prime Minister for the Russian Federation, and has direct ties to Vladimir Putin. Potanin is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(C) of E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of Interros, an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024. Similar actions against Potanin and his network have been taken by the United Kingdom and Canada.
• KHOLDINGOVAYA KOMPANIYA INTERROS OOO (Interros) is Potanin’s company with business across nearly all sectors of Russia’s economy. It is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Russian Federation economy
• Potanin’s wife, EKATERINA VIKTOROVNA POTANINA, and adult children IVAN VLADIMIROVICH POTANIN and ANASTASIA VLADIMIROVNA POTANINA, are being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(v) of E.O. 14024 for being a spouse or adult child of Vladimir Olegovich Potanin, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to section 1(a)(ii) or 1(a)(iii) of E.O. 14024.
• The superyacht NIRVANA, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is being identified as blocked property in which Vladimir Potanin, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024, has an interest.

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RUSSIAN RAILWAYS

• In February 2022, the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, in consultation with the Department of State, determined Russian Railways to be owned or controlled by, or have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation, and on that basis imposed the prohibitions of Directive 3 under E.O. 14024. The Department of State is designating five members of the Board of Directors of Russian Railways, a major Russian State-owned enterprise, pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O. 14024 for being or having been leaders, officials, senior executive officers, or members of the board of directors of the Government of the Russian Federation:
  • ANDREY REMOVICH BELOUSOV, who also serves as a First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
  • DMITRIY NIKOLAEVICH CHERNYSHENKO, who also serves as a Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
  • SERGEY OTTOVICH FRANK
  • OLEG VALENTINOVICH BELOZYOROV
  • ALEKSEY VALEREVICH SAZANOV

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS, AND A RELATED ENTITY

Governors oversee and enforce the conscription of citizens in response to Russia’s recent mobilization order. The Department of State is designating each of the following individuals pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O. 14024 for being a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of the Government of the Russian Federation or as otherwise denoted:

• ANDREY YURYEVICH VOROBYEV has served as the Governor of the Moscow region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2013. Andrey Yuryevich Vorobyev is additionally being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(v) of E.O. 14024 for being the adult child of Yuriy Leonidovich Vorobyev, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to Section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O.14024.
• ·The brother of the Andrey Vorobyev, MAXIM YURYEVICH VOROBYEV, is being designated pursuant to Section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O. 14024 for being an adult child of Yuriy Leonidovich Vorobyev, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to section 1(a)(ii) or 1(a)(iii) of E.O. 14024.
• Maxim Vorobyev’s company, AMEREUS GROUP PTE LTD, is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(vii) of E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Maxim Yuryevich Vorobyev, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024.
• ALEXANDER VIKTOROVICH GUSEV has served as the Governor of the Voronezh region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• ALEXEY VLADIMIROVICH OSTROVSKIY has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Smolensk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, at various times since 2012.
• VYACHESLAV VLADIMIROVICH GLADKOV has served as the Governor of the Belgorod region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, at various times since 2021.
• ·ROMAN VLADIMIROVICH STAROVOYT has served as the Governor of the Kursk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2022.
• VASILIY YURYEVICH GOLUBEV has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Rostov region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2010.
• ALEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVICH AVDEYEV has served as the Acting Governor of the Vladimir region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2021.
• ANDREY IVANOVICH BOCHAROV has served as the Governor of the Volgograd region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2014.
• ALEKSANDR YURYEVICH DROZDENKO has served as the Governor of the Leningrad region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2015.
• OLEG ALEKSANDROVICH KUVSHINNIKOV has served as the Governor of the Vologda region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2014.
• ANDREY SERGEYEVICH NIKITIN has served as the Governor of the Novgorod region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2017.
• ANDREY ALEKSANDROVICH TRAVNIKOV has served as the Governor of the Novosibirsk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• DENIS VLADIMIROVICH PASLER has served as the Governor of the Orenburg region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2019.
• MAXIM BORISOVICH EGOROV has served as the Governor of the Tambov region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2021.
• ANTON ANDREYEVICH ALIKHANOV has served as the Governor of the Kaliningrad region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2017.
• DMITRIY IGOREVICH AZAROV has served as the Governor of the Samara region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• EVGENIY VLADIMIROVICH KUYVASHEV has served as the Governor of the Sverdlovsk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2012.
• IGOR GEORGIYEVICH ARTAMONOV has served as the Governor of the Lipetsk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2019.
• ALEXANDER VIKTOROVICH USS has served as the Governor of the Krasnoyarsk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• The son of Alexander Viktorovich Uss, ARTEM ALEXANDROVICH USS, is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O. 14024 for being an adult child of a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to section 1(a)(ii) or 1(a)(iii) of E.O. 14024.
• ALEKSANDR VIKTOROVICH MOOR has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Tyumen region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• ALEKSEY LEONIDOVICH TEKSLER has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Chelyabinsk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2019.
• VIKTOR PETROVICH TOMENKO has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Altai territory, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH VLADIMIROV has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Stavropol territory, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2013.
• RADIY FARITOVICH KHABIROV has served as either the Acting Head or the Head of the Bashkortostan Republic, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• VLADIMIR VIKTOROVICH UYBA has served as either the Acting Head or the Head of the Komi Republic, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2020.
• AYSEN SERGEYEVICH NIKOLAYEV has served as either the Acting Head or the Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• OLEG ALEKSEYEVICH NIKOLAYEV has served as the Head of the Chuvash Republic, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2020.
• DMITRIY ANDREEVICH ARTYUKHOV has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2018.
• ALEKSANDR VASILYEVICH BOGOMAZ has served as either the Acting Governor or the Governor of the Bryansk region, a constituent entity of Russia’s federal system, since 2022.

RUSSIA-APPOINTED PROXY AUTHORITIES IN UKRAINE

The Department of State is designating the following persons pursuant to section 1(a)(ii)(F) of E.O. 14024 for being responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, activities that undermine the peace, security, political stability, or territorial integrity of the United States, its allies, or its partners for or on the behalf of, or for the benefit of, directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation.

• ANDREY ANATOLEVICH ALEKSEENKO was the Russia-appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the military-civilian administration in the Kharkiv Region of Ukraine and recently appointed as the new so-called “head” of the Russia-appointed authorities in the Kherson region.
• GENNADIY OLEKSANDROVYCH GARKUSHA acted as the Russia-appointed commander of the Berkut police battalion in the Kherson region of Ukraine. The Berkut battalion was previously disbanded after its violent repression of protestors in Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan protests. Russia-installed authorities recreated the Berkut battalion as part of the police force in then-Russia-controlled Kherson city. The Berkut battalion is alleged to have been tasked with repressing resistance to Russia’s forces and intimidating residents of Russia-controlled regions in southern Ukraine.
• VOLODYMYR VITALYOVYCH LIPANDIN acted as the Russia-appointed chief of police of the city of Kherson while it was still under Russia’s control.
• OLEKSII OLEKSANDROVYCH DYKIY acted as the so-called “Minister of Internal Affairs” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Within his role, Dykiy holds oversight over filtration camps located in the Donetsk region of Ukraine at multiple sites and facilities associated with the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic Ministry of Internal Affairs.” Dykiy also leads a reconnaissance battalion known as the “Operational Combat Tactical Formation,” or OBTF, which took part in the destruction of Mariupol.
• VOLODYMYR MYKHAILOVYCH BOBRYSHEV acted as the Russia-appointed Head of the Human Resources Department of the so-called Kherson Region Ministry of Internal Affairs during Russia’s control of the city of Kherson.
• KATERYNA YURIIVNA GUBAREVA acted as a Russia-appointed deputy head and chief of staff for Russia’s military-civilian administration in the Kherson region of Ukraine.
• MINISTRY OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS OF THE SO-CALLED DONETSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC was an entity of the formerly self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Personnel of this entity were directly involved in the forced filtration of civilians at multiple sites in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

About Author

victoriamedia

See author's posts