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The US has blacklisted roughly 400 companies and individuals from China, India and other countries, in the latest effort to limit Russia’s ability to obtain critical materials needed to continue its war in Ukraine.
In the latest wave of designations on Wednesday, the US Treasury added more than 270 individuals and companies to its sanctions list, while the Department of State listed another 120.
Sanctioned entities have their assets blocked and US entities are generally prohibited from dealing with them. People in third countries who assist them could also be at risk of being sanctioned themselves.
Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Treasury, said: “We are unyielding in our resolve to diminish and degrade Russia’s ability to equip its war machine and stop those seeking to aid their efforts through circumvention or evasion of our sanctions and export controls.”
Most listings relate to the import of military equipment and components: Mirex, a Turkish company, was listed for having “led efforts to locally assemble and manufacture equipment for Russian defence companies”.
AM Logistics, a Russian company, was listed for obtaining nitrocellulose abroad, a chemical compound used in explosives, including from Turkey.
A small number of the designations directly relate to the import of US-made goods. According to its listing, Ace Electronic, a Chinese company, exported American-made radio frequency transceivers to Russia that have been subsequently found in Orlan-10 drones.
New Way, a Turkish company, was listed for working with Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU to organise “shipments of US-origin microelectronics and production and testing equipment to Russia”.
The state department listings include subsidiaries of Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear group, as part of its increased focus on the Russian nuclear weapons complex and defence sector. It also targeted Belarusian entities supporting the Russian defence sector.
One of the individuals added to the list is Timur Badr, a Dubai-based Russian national the Financial Times revealed to have been supplying the Russian aerospace industry with essential components for civilian and military end users. One of his companies was shipping high-end avionics components from Dubai in passenger luggage.
The Treasury also sanctioned financial facilitators, describing them as “key nodes in sanctions evasion ecosystems”. Washington said cracking down on these services “can act as force multipliers by rippling disruptive effects through multiple sanctions evasion networks simultaneously”.
Two Swiss nationals, Andres Baumgartner, 63, and Fabio Libero Delco, 57, were added to the sanctions list for having “provided trust and corporation formation services to many Russian clients, including sanctioned Russian individuals”.