The US imposed sanctions against arms dealers linked to the Russian Federation

On Tuesday, the United States imposed sanctions against 22 individuals and legal entities, citizens and residents of different countries, allegedly associated with a network to circumvent sanctions previously imposed on Russia. Among those included in the sanctions list are several citizens of Russia, as a rule, having citizenships of other countries as well.

As stated in the message of the Ministry of Finance of the USA, all these people and organizations assisted the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex in circumventing the sanctions introduced in connection with the invasion of Ukraine.

It is reported that the new sanctions were the result of the work of a team recently created by the US Treasury Department to track the assets of previously sanctioned Russians around the world.

Cypriot-Russian businessman Igor Zimenkov and his son Jonathan are considered by the US Treasury to be the main figures on the new sanctions list. It is claimed that the so-called “Zymenkov network” participated in the strengthening of Russia’s military capabilities, supplying Russian companies with high-tech equipment already after February 24 last year. Also, the members of this network allegedly maintained relations with “Rosoboronexport” and “Rostec”, previously included in the sanctions lists. Igor Zimenkov allegedly also contributed to the sale of Belarusian military equipment to Latin American countries, also in violation of US sanctions.

Sanctions are also imposed against the allegedly controlled Singapore company controlled by Zimenkov and its director, who acted as intermediaries in the sale of helicopters to Latin America by Rostec. Sanctions were also imposed against Latvian citizen Mark Blats and his Latvian company “Elektrooptyka” – they allegedly supplied Russia with infrared and electro-optical equipment after the war in Ukraine. Also under sanctions was Alexander Wolfovych, whom the US Treasury calls an arms dealer living in Cyprus, connected to Zimenkov’s network, and six related companies in Cyprus, Bulgaria and Israel. Sanctions have also been imposed against two sons of Volfovich, as well as against three businessmen with citizenships of Uzbekistan and Israel, who also allegedly cooperated with Zimenkov.

The name of Zimenkov appeared in the so-called “Panama Archives” as the alleged founder of one of the companies in the Seychelles. At the moment, it was not possible to find any publications about his possible role in the circumvention of sanctions.

In total, since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 1,000 Russian individuals and legal entities have been included in the US sanctions lists.