MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - The United States has imposed sanctions against individuals and entities linked to Russia's para-military Wagner Group and its head, Yevgeniy Prigozhin.
Those targeted include Wagner's key infrastructure and associated front companies, its battlefield operations in Ukraine, producers of Russia's weapons, and those administering Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine.
Announcing the State Department's decision, State Secretary Antony Blinken said this action supports U.S. goal to degrade Moscow's capacity to wage war against Ukraine, to promote accountability for those responsible for Russia's war of aggression and associated abuses, and to place further pressure on Russia's defense sector.
The Department of State has designated five entities and one individual linked to the Wagner Group and Prigozhin. This includes a range of Wagner's key infrastructure - including an aviation firm used by Wagner, a Wagner propaganda organization, and Wagner front companies.
Concurrently, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has designated Wagner Group as a significant transnational criminal organization.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it is designating Wagner for targeting civilians, including women and children, through violence, or abduction, forced displacement, or attacks on schools, hospitals, religious sites, or locations where civilians are seeking refuge, in the Central African Republic.
OFAC is also designating persons and entities based in CAR, China, Luxembourg, and the United Arab Emirates that are connected to Wagner's operations around the world.
The Department is also designating three individuals for their roles as heads of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, which has been reported to facilitate the recruitment of Russian prisoners into the Wagner Group. It is also designating a Deputy Prime Minister who also serves as the Minister of Industry and Trade and the Chairman of the Election Commission of the Rostov Region.
OFAC has designated one individual and four entities associated with Russian Oligarch Vladimir Potanin, and Sergei Adonev, a financier of Russian President Putin, alongside several associated entities and individuals.
OFAC took action against Spacety Luxembourg S.A., Spacety China's Luxembourg-based subsidiary. Joint Stock Company Research and Production Concern BARL (AO BARL) is a Russian space company supporting Russia's military activities in Ukraine. AO BARL has shared foreign high-resolution satellite imagery with Russia's military.
The Department is also identifying two yachts and one aircraft associated with Adonev as blocked property.
Additionally, Aktsionernoye Obshchestvo Dalnevostochnyy TsentrSudostroyeniya i Sudoremonta and its eight subsidiaries, known for building and servicing Russia's military, including its Pacific Fleet, were targeted.
The State Department is announcing steps to impose visa restrictions on 531 members of the Russian military for their role in attacking Ukraine.
The Treasury has designated a number of entities and individuals on multiple continents that support the Wagner Group's military operations. They include Russia-based technology firm Terra Tech, China's Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co. Ltd,
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