The United States imposed today sanctions against hundreds of individuals and entities – among others in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates – targeting those attempting to circumvent the sanctions already imposed on Russia.

The US Treasury Department and the State Department they put on the “black list” more than 250 natural and legal personsin Washington’s latest move to crack down on Russia and prevent circumvention of sanctions imposed by the US and its allies over the war in Ukraine.

“We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to promote accountability for the crimes Russia has committed in Ukraine and for those who finance and support the Russian war machine,” he said. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

The Finance Ministry announced that it had sanctioned a network of four legal entities and nine individuals based in China, Russia, Hong Kong and Pakistan for aiding and abetting the supply of Chinese-made weapons and technological equipment to Russia. It notes that the network sought to circumvent US sanctions and Chinese controls on the export of military hardware.

Sanctions were also imposed on companies based in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and China to ship technology, equipment and raw materials, including bearings or rollers, aircraft parts and x-ray systems;

The China-based companies targeted included satellite imaging businesses that, according to the US Treasury Department, provided high-resolution imagery to the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

The State Department targeted Chinese companies as part of a crackdown on a network it said was involved in the supply of microelectronic components for Russia’s state-owned Rostec Group, which is also subject to US sanctions.

He said microelectronics products are being used to develop electronic warfare systems. Companies in Russia, Turkey and Hong Kong were also targeted in the crackdown on the network.

Washington has stepped up diplomatic pressure on countries and private companies worldwide to ensure the enforcement of sanctions it, the European Union and other Western nations have imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia rejects the Western sanctions as illegal and says they will not hinder the growth of its economy.

Future Energy

The US has targeted three companies developing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Ust-Luga, a facility in a Baltic port in northwestern Russia that will be operated by Gazprom and RusGazDobycha.

The yet-to-be-built complex is part of Gazprom’s strategy to focus on processing and is poised to become Russia’s largest natural gas processing plant and one of the world’s largest in terms of production volume.

The sanctions were imposed on the Russian-based companies Limited Liability Company Northern Technologies, Joint Stock Company Kazan Compressor Machinery Plant and Limited Liability Company Gazprom Linde Engineering.

Washington seeks to interfere with Russia’s future energy production and fuel export capacity.

The move comes just over a month after Washington imposed sanctions on an entity developing another liquefied natural gas project, Arctic-2 LNG in Siberia.

It is not immediately clear how future Russian LNG exports will be affected. The US is the world’s largest exporter of LNG.

The German company Linde stopped operating in Ust-Luga in 2022 due to Western sanctions. This year Russia began talks with China to attract Chinese companies to build the plant.

The State Department also targeted Russian businessman Vladislav Sviblov and Highland Gold Mining Ltd, a UK-based company he owns and controls, which it said is Russia’s seventh-largest gold producer, along with other companies linked to Swebloff after Britain imposed sanctions in November.

The State Department also named three shipping companies and three Russian-flagged merchant vessels that it said were used to transport ammunition between North Korea and Russia.

Washington also targeted four Russian financial institutions and dozens of Russian-based entities involved in the import, production, modification and sale of defense and industrial technology, including unmanned aerial vehicles.

The State Department also included former telecommunications CEO Ivan Tavrin and a network of companies he runs. It said Tavrin “has become one of Russia’s top war negotiators since the beginning of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.”