The UK government has sanctioned additional people and entities in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the British Foreign Office said Tuesday.
Among the sanctioned are Vitaly Khotsenko and Vladislav Kuznetsov, the Russian-imposed Prime Minister and First Deputy Chair of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, according to the Foreign Office statement.
“Khotsenko and Kuznetsov have been sent to implement Russia’s policies across the invaded region, supporting Putin’s plans to illegally annex more of Ukraine and use sham referendums to falsely legitimize their occupation,” the statement said. They have been hit with a travel ban and asset freeze.
Russia’s Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko and Deputy Minister of Justice Oleg Sviridenko have also been sanctioned, the Foreign Office said.
“The pair are suppressing their own people by targeting those speaking out against the war,” the statement said.
The UK also targeted 29 Russian regional governors with sanctions.
“The governors have been directed by the Kremlin to transfer funds to the so-called ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’, facilitating the Russian occupation in attempting to wrest territory from Ukraine,” the Foreign Office said.
Additionally, the UK sanctioned six Syrian individuals and companies for their links to Russia’s war in Ukraine, including for assisting in the recruitment of Syrian mercenaries to fight alongside Russian troops.
Two nephews of “major Russian oligarch” Alisher Usmanov were hit with asset freezes over their “association with Putin”, the statement said. One of the two, Sarvar Ismailov, was previously a director at the English soccer club, Everton.
Usmanov, who is already subject to UK sanctions, also has close ties to the Kremlin, according to the Foreign Office.
The Foreign Office also added five Syrian individuals and entities to the sanctions list over their links to the governing regime in Syria, including Issam Shammout, the owner of Cham Wings, a Syrian airline that was released from EU sanctions in mid-July.
To date, the UK has sanctioned “more than 1,100 individuals and more than 100 entities” over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Foreign Office said.
