UK expands Russia sanctions, targeting officials, defence firms

The United Kingdom has added five new entries to its anti-Russian sanctions list, as confirmed by the updated sanctions register on the UK government's website.

The restrictive measures include a ban on entry into the United Kingdom and the freezing of assets if identified, Caliber.Az reports.

The newly sanctioned individuals and entities are:

• Businessman Artem Chaika;

• Director of the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control, Vladimir Selin;

• Deputy Defence Minister of Russia, Pavel Fradkov;

• The Kirov-Energomash plant;

• Rosatom Additive Technologies.

In total, the UK's sanctions list against Russia now includes more than 1,700 individuals and 384 legal entities.

Furthermore, Britain on February 11 imposed sanctions on Russian cybercrime syndicate ZSERVERS and six of its members, accusing them of enabling widespread ransomware attacks worldwide.

The government said ZSERVERS plays a key role in a major cybercrime network responsible for devastating ransomware operations. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said it was no surprise that such criminals operate from within Russia, vowing to counter their actions to protect national security.

The UK warned that these attacks pose a serious threat, disrupting vital services, compromising sensitive data, and extorting $1 billion from victims globally in 2023 alone.

By Aghakazim Guliyev