Alina Maratovna Kabaeva, who had a romantic relationship with the Russian leader, was sanctioned for being a “chairman, officer, senior executive officer or member of the board of directors” of the Treasury Department. The report said.
The report describes the 39-year-old Khabeeva as having “close ties to Putin”. He is a former member of the State Duma “and current chairman of the National Media Group, a pro-Kremlin empire of television, radio and print organizations.”
In April, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States was considering allowing Kabaeva, but there were concerns that such a move would inflame tensions because of his closeness to Putin.
Kabaeva was previously admitted by the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Besides Khabewa, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against several oligarchs, a major steelmaker and two of its subsidiaries, and a financial institution and its director general accused of engaging in sanctions evasion.
Separately, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced sanctions against three oligarchs, a Russian state-owned company overseen by the Ministry of Transport, “four individuals and one company operating illegally on the territory of Ukraine in cooperation with Russia” and 24 Russian defense and technology-related companies.
The United States also imposed visa restrictions on 893 Russian Federation officials and “31 foreign government officials who supported Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and acted to threaten or violate Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Blinken said.
Many of the positions announced by the United States target oligarchs previously sanctioned by allies such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the European Union. They come as the war in Ukraine enters its sixth month.
‘Prosperous Lifestyle’
“As innocent people suffer from Russia’s illegal war of aggression, Putin’s cronies have enriched themselves and financed lavish lifestyles,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. “The Treasury Department will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that Russian elites and the Kremlin’s enablers are held accountable for their complicity in a war that has cost countless lives.”
The oligarchs sanctioned by the State Department on Tuesday were Andrii Igorevich Melnichenko, Alexander Anatolyevich Ponomarenko and Dmitri Alexandrovich Pampyansky. The AXIOMA yacht was identified as restricted property in which Pumpyanskiy has an interest, the State Department said in a fact sheet.
According to the fact sheet, Ponomarenko is “an oligarch with close ties to other oligarchs and the builder of Vladimir Putin’s seaside palace”, who has previously been sanctioned by the UK, EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Among the oligarchs sanctioned by the Treasury Department on Tuesday was Andrei Grigorievich Guryev, the Russian billionaire founder of the chemical company “FosAgro” and a former government official described by the Treasury as a “known close ally” of Putin. He is sanctioned by the UK, and according to the US Treasury, he “owns the Whittenhurst Estate, the second largest estate in London after Buckingham Palace.”
The Treasury Department on Tuesday identified the Alpha Nero yacht, allegedly owned by AG Guryev, as prohibited property.
AG Guryev’s son, Andrey Andreevich Guryev, was sanctioned by the US on Tuesday, after being sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and the UK, as was his investment firm Dzhi AI Invest OOO.
Natalya Valerievna Popova was admitted “for operating or operating in the technical sector of the economy of the Russian Federation and for being a chairman, officer, senior executive officer or member of the board of directors of LLC VEB Ventures.” A recognized institution. She was also admitted as the wife of Kirill Aleksandrovich Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). He and the RTIF were admitted within days of the start of the war.
A joint-stock company that promises industrial and infrastructure technologies, “owned by the State Asset Management Company of the Russian Federal Agency” and its general director Anton Sergeevich Urusov were sanctioned on Tuesday in connection with alleged sanctions evasion.
According to the Treasury Department, “JSC PPIT attempted to evade sanctions imposed on the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).”
The Treasury Department sanctioned Publico Aktionerno Obsestvo Magnitogorsky Metallurgische Kombinat (MMK), described as “one of the world’s largest steel producers,” whose board of directors, Viktor Filippovich Rashnikov, is recognized by Australia, Canada, the European Union. , Switzerland and the UK — and two subsidiaries of MMK.
“MMK is one of Russia’s largest taxpayers, providing a significant source of revenue to the Government of the Russian Federation,” the Treasury Department said. The agency has approved a cooling-off period for transactions between MMK and one of its subsidiaries.
