New U.S. sanctions target Moscow amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, expanding the list to more than 30 institutions and 13 individuals connected to the Kremlin circle. Among those named is the former gymnast Alina Kabaeva, often described as a close associate of President Vladimir Putin.
In a formal statement, the Treasury Department announced that it will use every tool at its disposal to hold the Russian elite and their supporters accountable for the war that has cost countless lives. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen underscored the administration’s resolve to pursue those who facilitate or back the Kremlin’s aims.
The latest measures extend to Andrei Guryev, founder and former vice president of PhosAgro, Russia’s leading chemical company. Guryev’s yacht, Alpha Nero, a Cayman Islands-flagged vessel valued at about $120 million, has been designated as blocked property. Guryev has previously faced sanctions from the UK.
Other notable names include Viktor Rashnikov, the majority owner of MMK, one of the world’s largest steel producers, along with two of the group’s subsidiaries. Rashnikov has previously been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Also identified among Putin’s inner circle are Alina Kabaeva, the Athens 2004 Olympic champion who now leads the National Media Group, and Natalia Valerievna Popova, deputy director of the Innopraktika Institute for Non-State Development, a technology enterprise based in Russia.
The Biden administration indicated that sanctions reach the US financial system as well, with Joint Stock Company Promising Industrial and Infrastructure Technologies added to the list as a measure intended to prevent attempts to bypass earlier restrictions related to the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
The State Department expanded the designation to include additional figures such as Dimitri Aleksandrovich Pumpianskii, formerly head of TMK, a major Russian steel pipe producer; Andrei Igorevich Melnichenko, who chairs the Mining Commission of the Board of Directors of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; and Alexander Anatolevich Ponomarenko, a noted businessman in the circle surrounding Moscow’s power structure.
Additionally, the sanctions list encompasses a number of other entities tied to defense and technology, along with four individuals and one organization involved in activities on Ukrainian soil in collaboration with Russia.
Diplomatic channels confirmed continued visa restrictions targeting individuals connected to Moscow’s war effort. Officials cited the imposition of travel bans on numerous Russian officials, including members of the Federation Council and military personnel whose actions threaten or undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, or political independence. This is part of a broader effort coordinated with partners in the region and beyond to constrain Russia’s ability to project power abroad.
According to U.S. authorities, the latest round of measures also involves 31 foreign government officials who allegedly supported Moscow’s assertion of Crimea as part of Russian territory, a move deemed to threaten Ukraine’s sovereignty.