US expands sanctions against Belarus

The United States imposed restrictions on 12 Belarusian firms and 10 individuals in a new round of sanctions announced April 15, according to the US Treasury Department.

The US has previously sanctioned Belarus in response to dictator Alexander Lukashenko's abuses of power and the regime's support of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The latest sanctions package targets entities that profit from Russia's war in Ukraine, including a state-owned machine tool building company, a radio communications firm, and a software development company.

The new sanctions also target companies and individuals that cooperate with Peleng, a Belarusian state-owned enterprise (SOE) that supplies fire-control systems for Russian tanks. The US first sanctioned Peleng in December 2021, and the new restrictions apply to a Chinese intermediary of Peleng and several Belarusian nationals.

The penalties also extend to the Black Shield Company, a weapons company that has acquired arms from the sanctioned Belarusian defense firm Kidma Tech OJSC.

"We will continue to leverage our broad suite of tools to target Belarus's extensive illicit facilitation networks and hold the regime accountable for its complicity in, and profiteering from, Russia's unjust war in Ukraine," said Brian E. Nelson, the department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.