President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed decrees enacting decisions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to impose sanctions on Russian entities involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children and on vessels of Russia’s shadow fleet.
The first sanctions package targets 20 individuals and four legal entities engaged in transferring Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and indoctrinating them with Russian ideology.
Among them are so-called children’s rights commissioners in several Russian regions, heads of social development departments and agencies, deputies of representative bodies of the Russian Federation, officials of the aggressor state’s executive authorities, as well as individuals serving the occupation authorities in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Those sanctioned include :
Head of the “Maritime Training Center ‘Varyag’” Alexander Diachenko, who conducts propaganda-based indoctrination of youth in temporarily occupied Crimea for recruitment into FSB-controlled military educational institutions.
So-called deputy of the Polohy District Council in Zaporizhzhia region Iurii Mitlenko, who ensured the forced passportization of Ukrainians and issued Russian documents to schoolchildren who had reached the age of 14.
So-called deputy of the “Kherson Regional Duma” from the United Russia party Igor Telegin, who organized propaganda and militarized events for youth in temporarily occupied territories.
School principal in Vuhlehirsk Irina Shetelia, involved in the transfer of 130 Ukrainian children to the Rostov region.
The sanctions also apply to public organizations, movements, and military-patriotic clubs that assist in the forced “integration” of abducted Ukrainian children into Russia’s cultural, educational, and ideological space.
“Bringing those responsible for the abduction of Ukrainian children to justice is one of our priorities. Evil cannot go unpunished. We are also implementing additional restrictions against the shadow fleet; there are interesting targets. This also means further legal consequences based on sanctions. Our work is valued by partners,” said Advisor – Commissioner of the President for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk.
The second sanctions list includes 23 vessels used by Russia to export oil and petroleum products.
These tankers transport energy resources from Russian ports in circumvention of sanctions to countries that continue to purchase Russian oil. In particular, two vessels are used for transshipment from Arctic-class tankers to shadow fleet tankers for further maritime transport. They serve as logistical hubs for Gazprom Neft's export operations.
The vessels have sailed under the flags of Russia and third countries: Panama (7), Barbados (4), Palau (3), the Russian Federation (2), Marshall Islands (1), Comoros (1), Guyana (1), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1), Antigua and Barbuda (1), Madagascar (1), and Mozambique (1). Five of them are already subject to U.S. sanctions.
Ukraine will work with partners to synchronize sanctions across international jurisdictions.