The US Department of the Treasury Thursday announced new sanctions on Russia’s technology sector to “prevent it from evading unprecedented multilateral sanctions and procure critical western technology.” The Treasury also designated the Russian government as “malicious cyber actors” and imposed sanctions on three new sectors.
The new technology sanctions identify 21 entities, including Russia’s largest chipmaker, and 13 individuals taking part in the Kremlin’s attempts to evade sanctions. OOO Serniya Engineering is at the center of the Russian sanctions evasion networks, which “operates across multiple countries to obfuscate the Russian military and intelligence agency end-users that rely on critical western technology . . . [and] work to illicitly procure dual-use equipment and technology for Russia’s defense sector.”
Serniya employs front companies to work around previous sanctions on companies that are directly supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. The new sanctions target Serniya, the front companies and other entities and individuals working in this evasion network.
These new sanctions are part of the United States’ commitment to punishing Russia for its unprovoked aggression. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said in a statement, “We will continue to target Putin’s war machine with sanctions from every angle, until this senseless war of choice is over.”
The department also determined that three new sectors—aerospace, marine and electronics—are subject to sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 14024. This allows the Treasury to identify individuals and entities in these sectors to further the economic burden on Russia.
The new sectors were chosen because they “align with recent actions taken by the U.S. Department of Commerce targeting these sectors, which are strategically important to Russia’s economic ambitions, long-term technological development, and defense industrial base.”