Skripal poisoning suspects, media outlets on new US sanctions lists
The Treasury also announced that the Russian companies Rusal, EN+ Group and JSC EuroSibEnergo have agreed to a significant restructuring in order to reduce Deripaska’s shareholding to below 50 percent.
Two individuals identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov were sanctioned for allegedly being “GRU officers responsible for carrying out the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal and his daughter.”
Petrov and Boshirov have previously denied any involvement in the alleged nerve agent attack in Salisbury, UK this March. They said they had nothing to do with Russian Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and that their lives were ruined by the accusations coming from London.
Nine other alleged GRU agents also found themselves on the blacklist for what the Treasury called “direct involvement in efforts to interfere in the 2016 US election.” They were accused of targeting the US election system and political parties, as well the release of campaign-related documents that were allegedly obtained through theft. The officers named in the sanctions announcement were already indicted by the US for their alleged criminal activities back in July.
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Former GRU officer Victor Boyarkin was sanctioned over what the Treasury described as “providing Russian financial support to a Montenegrin political party ahead of Montenegro’s 2016 elections” on behalf of Russian businessman, Oleg Deripaska, who was blacklisted earlier.
The US restrictions also targeted four media outlets and several of their high-ranking employees over claims they had attempted to interfere in the 2016 US elections as well as other elections worldwide
Nevskiy News, Economy Today and the Federal News Agency, as well as its subsidiary USA Really website, were accused of being part of “Project Lakhta.” The Treasury claims that the outlets are controlled by the already sanctioned Concord Management and Consulting LLC owned by Russian businessman, Evgeniy Prigozhin.
Among those blacklisted on Wednesday was Elena Khusyaynova, who is accused of being Project Lakhta’s chief accountant.In October, the Department of Justice leveled charges against Khusyaynova on suspicion of handling funds used to pay online trolls for posting comments with the intention of undermining US democracy.
The sanctioned individuals had their assets in the US blocked, while American citizens were prohibited from doing any business with them.
The Treasury also announced that the Russian companies Rusal, EN+ Group and JSC EuroSibEnergo have agreed to a significant restructuring in order to reduce their shares in Deripaska to below 50 percent.
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The move will mean that US sanctions against those companies can be alleviated within a month, while Deripaska will remain on the blacklist, the US government added.
“The United States will continue to work with international allies and partners to take collective action to deter and defend against sustained malign activity by Russia, its proxies, and intelligence agencies,” the Treasury said.
Washington has blacklisted 272 Russian individuals and entities since Russia’s reunification with Crimea and the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict in 2014.
Russia has repeatedly denied the unsubstantiated US accusations, arguing that the differences between Washington and Moscow should be settled through negotiations rather than sanctions.
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