WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 A Russian arms dealer, his son, a group of front companies across Asia, Europe and the Middle East and their leadership have been targeted for U.S. sanctions in an effort to quell Russia's access to weapons as it continues its invasion of Ukraine.
Russian arms dealer Igor Zimenkov, his son and companies connected to 鈥渢he Zimenkov network鈥 in Singapore, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Israel, among other countries, were identified by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control for financial penalties.
Roughly 22 people and organizations related to a sanctions evasion network supporting Russia鈥檚 military-industrial complex were named in Wednesday's news release.
The administration uses an as its authority to impose the financial penalties, and took the actions in concert with the , a multi-agency group that works with other countries to investigate and prosecute oligarchs and others allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
鈥淩ussia鈥檚 desperate attempts to utilize proxies to circumvent U.S. sanctions demonstrate that sanctions have made it much harder and costlier for Russia鈥檚 military-industrial complex to resupply Putin鈥檚 war machine,鈥 Treasury's Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a Wednesday statement.
Treasury says over the last year, OFAC has sanctioned more than 100 people and entities engaging in activity to circumvent international sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia.
鈥淭argeting proxies is one of many steps that Treasury and our coalition of partners have taken, and continue to take, to tighten sanctions enforcement against Russia鈥檚 defense sector, its benefactors, and its supporters," Adeyemo said.
As the one-year anniversary of Moscow's invasion approaches, Russia is in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, local officials say, in what Kyiv suspects is preparation for an offensive in coming weeks.
Ukraine is hoping to secure more Western military aid as it tries to fend off the much larger Russian forces. It already has from the U.S., Germany, Britain and other European countries.
