The United States has imposed sanctions on more than 80 entities and individuals alleging that Russia used the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.
The State Department also alleged that Russia has used riot control agents as a method of warfare in Ukraine, both of which are in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield. Russia’s ongoing disregard for its obligations to the CWC comes from the same playbook as its operations to poison Aleksey Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal with Novichok nerve agents,” the State Department said in a factsheet.
The Department of State said it is re-imposing restrictions on foreign military financing, U.S. Government lines of credit, and export licenses for defense articles and national security-sensitive items going to Russia.
The Department also is sanctioning three Russian government firms linked to Russia’s chemical and biological weapons programs and four Russian companies that have contributed to such entities.
The Department of State is also targeting Russia’s revenue generation through its future energy, metals, and mining production and sanctioning additional individuals in connection with the death of opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Aleksey Navalny.
These are in addition to another set of sanctions by the Department of the Treasury targeting Russia’s military-industrial base and chemical and biological weapons programs as well as companies and individuals in third countries that help Russia acquire key inputs for weapons or defense-related production.
They include nearly 60 targets located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates that enable Russia to acquire desperately-needed technology and equipment from abroad.
“Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia’s war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “Today’s actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia’s war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it”.
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