© . FILE PHOTO: Russian and American flags are pictured before talks between Russian Deputy Secretary of State Sergei Ryabkov and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman at the United States Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 10, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibo WASHINGTON ( ) -The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Russian military leaders and people it accused of having links to human rights abuses, while adopting new measures against Moscow’s closest ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. It was the most recent sanctions against Moscow since Russian forces invaded Ukraine nearly three weeks ago in the biggest attack on a European state since World War II. Moscow calls the attack a “special operation.” The US State Department announced sanctions against 11 Russian military leaders, including several deputy defense ministers and Viktor Zolotov, head of the Russian National Guard and a member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Security Council. The sanctions freeze all U.S. assets the targets have and generally prevent Americans from dealing with them. The Russian embassy in Washington said the sanctions were “another hostile move (that) is driving Russia-US relations further into an even more dead end,” in a statement on its Facebook page (NASDAQ:). It said the measures would not go unanswered without going into further detail. The US Treasury Department announced sanctions against four Russians and one entity that it accused of covering up events surrounding the death of whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky or of involvement in human rights violations against human rights lawyer Oyub Titiev. A statement from the Ministry of Finance said it is adding to the sanctions against Lukashenko and also targeting his wife. Andrea Gacki, the head of the Treasury Department of Foreign Assets, said in the statement that the sanctions affected people involved in corruption or gross human rights violations. “We condemn Russia’s attacks on humanitarian corridors in Ukraine and call on Russia to end its unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine,” she said. Magnitsky was a Russian lawyer who was arrested in 2008 after alleging that Russian officials were involved in large-scale tax fraud. Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison in 2009 after complaining of assault. Tuesday’s measures targeted Judge Natalia Mushnikova, who is accused by the Treasury Department of “participation in attempts to conceal legal liability for the detention, abuse or death” of Magnitsky. Sanctions were also imposed on the Kurchaloi district of the Chechen Republic branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, whose agents arrested Titiev in 2018 and charged him with drug possession. Those sanctioned include Nurid Salamov, the investigator who opened the case against Titiev; Khusein Khutaev, the officer who allegedly saw drugs in Titiev’s car; and Dzhabrail Akhmatov, who, according to the treasury, decided to sue Titiev. Titiev, head of the Memorial human rights center in Chechnya, was arrested in 2018 and charged with possession of illegal drugs. Titiev said police planted the drugs on him during a shakedown. He was sentenced to 4 years in a penal colony. Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data on this website is not necessarily real-time or accurate. All CFDs (Stocks, Indices, Futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and therefore prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price meaning prices are indicative and not suitable for trading purposes . Therefore, Fusion Media does not bear any responsibility for any trading losses that you may incur as a result of using this data. Fusion Media or anyone associated with Fusion Media accepts no liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any information, including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals on this website. Be fully informed about the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest forms of investment possible.
