Ukraine's Zelenskiy slaps sanctions on 108 people, 37 Russian groups

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine has imposed sanctions on 37 Russian groups and 108 individuals, including a former prime minister and a former education minister. Zelenskiy also expressed his intention to fight wartime abductions of children from Ukraine and other “Russian terror”.

During his nightly video address on Saturday, Zelenskiy stated, “We are increasing the pressure of our state onto them and each of them must be held responsible for what they have done.” He said this after his office issued corresponding decrees with his signature.

While Zelenskiy did not link specific individuals or groups to specific wrongdoings, the decrees indicated a range of 10-year penalties against individuals and five-year penalties against non-profit groups, such as the “Russian Children’s Foundation”.

The president mentioned that the list included those involved in the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children from the occupied territory, as well as individuals who help Russian terror against Ukraine in various ways.

Several of the newly-sanctioned individuals, many of whom have Russian citizenship, had previously faced separate or similar penalties. These individuals include Dmytro Tabachnyk, a former minister of education and science, and ex-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.

In 2014, Azarov, along with former President Viktor Yanukovich, fled Ukraine for Russia after a crackdown on street protests that killed over 100 demonstrators in Kyiv.

Other individuals penalized on Saturday included Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, and Leonid Pasechnik, whom Putin appointed head of Luhansk, the eastern Ukrainian region Russia annexed in 2022.

The sanctioned Russian groups included several whose names or websites indicate they work with children, such as Kvartal Lui.

One of the individuals sanctioned was Sofia Lvova-Belova, the executive director of Kvartal Lui, an organization founded by Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, who herself was sanctioned by Kyiv in October 2022.

According to Kyiv, about 20,000 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-held territory without the consent of family or guardians, which they argue amounts to a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide.

Furthermore, Yale University published research claiming that over 2,400 children between the ages of six and 17 were taken to 13 facilities across Russian-allied Belarus. The report stated that the transports across Russian territory to Belarus were “ultimately coordinated” between Putin and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko.

Zelenskiy’s decrees supported a decision by the National Security and Defence Council to issue sanctions with an array of penalties, including blocking assets, trade, transit, leasing, removal of capital, land purchases, and other financial and economic activities.

(Writing by Elaine Monaghan in Washington, Editing by Franklin Paul)