Russian arms dealer, his son and company sanctioned by US

A Russian arms dealer, his son, a group of front companies spanning Asia, Europe and the Middle East and their leadership have been targeted by U.S. sanctions aimed at preventing Russia from acquiring weapons as it continues its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian arms dealer Igor Zimenkov, his son and companies linked to the “Zimenkov Network” in countries including Singapore, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Israel have been targeted by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

About 22 people and organizations linked to a sanctions-evasion network supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex were named on Wednesday.

The administration used the April 2021 executive order as the authority to impose economic penalties and acted with the Task Force on Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs, a multi-agency group that cooperates with other countries to investigate and prosecute oligarchs and others involved in the investigation. People allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Russia’s reckless use of proxies to circumvent U.S. sanctions demonstrates that sanctions are making it more difficult and expensive for Russia’s military-industrial complex to resupply Putin’s war machine,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Voli Adjemo said in a statement. said the statement.

Over the past year, OFAC has sanctioned more than 100 individuals and entities engaged in activities to circumvent international sanctions and export controls imposed on Russia, the Treasury Department said.

“Targeting proxies is one of many steps Treasury and our coalition of partners have taken and will continue to take to strengthen sanctions enforcement against the Russian defense sector, its donors and their supporters,” Mr. Adeyemo said .

As the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion looms, Russia is building up military forces in eastern Ukraine’s Lugansk region, which Kyiv suspects is preparations for an offensive in the coming weeks, local officials said.

Ukraine wants more Western military aid as it tries to fend off the much larger Russian military. It has already won commitments from the US, Germany, the UK and other European countries for advanced main battle tanks.