UK unveils largest Russia sanctions package deal for 18 months concentrating on GRU officer suspected of being behind the Salisbury poisonings and Kremlin-linked mercenaries in Africa
The UK has unveiled the biggest Russia sanctions package for 18 months in a signal of support for Ukraine.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced 56 new measures, targeting industrial suppliers and mercenary groups operating in Africa.
Denis Sergeev, a Russian GRU agent, has also been sanctioned over his suspected involvment in the use of the Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury in 2018.
The move comes amid global anxiety about whether Donald Trump will cut backing for Kyiv‘s resistance to Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The list of sanctions includes 28 suppliers of machine tools, microelectronics, components for drones and other goods that could be useful to Russian forces.
Most are based in China and Kazakhstan.
More than 20 individuals also face restrictions for benefiting from the invasion, on grounds including supporting the supply of kit to the military and links to mercenary groups.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced 56 new Russia sanctions measures, targeting industrial suppliers and mercenary groups operating in Africa
The move comes amid global anxiety about whether Donald Trump will cut backing for Kyiv ‘s resistance to Vladimir Putin’s (pictured) invasion
Denis Sergeev, a Russian GRU agent, has been sanctioned over his suspected involvment in the use of the Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury in 2018
The aftermath of a Russian drone strike in Kyiv today
Sergeev, who used the alias Sergey Fedotov while in the UK, is the third individual facing charges in connection with the 2018 Novichok attack.
He is thought to have been the local coordinator for the poisonings.
Alexander Mishkin, who used the name Alexander Petrov while in the UK, and Anatoliy Chepiga, who used the alias Ruslan Boshirov, are also suspects of the attempted murders of a former Russian spy and his daughter.
Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia and former police officer Nick Bailey, who were poisoned in Salisbury in March 2018, all survived.
In July 2018, Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok, which had been left in a discarded perfume bottle in nearby Amesbury, Wiltshire.
Mr Lammy said: ‘Putin and his mafia state are attempting to sow chaos through disinformation, division and disorder in the UK and across the world.
‘I cannot and will not standby and allow the Kremlin’s reckless behavior and Putin’s dangerous rhetoric prevail.
‘We cannot teach our adversaries that aggression and diplomatic vandalism wins.
‘That’s why I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin using every tool at my disposal. I will combat Russian malign activity at every turn, relentlessly putting pressure on Putin and his cronies.’
Mr Lammy said the latest measures – described as the biggest since May 2023 – would target ‘the Kremlin’s corrosive foreign policy, sanctioning Russia‘s military industrial complex, directly cutting off the supply of vital military equipment Putin is desperately trying to get his grubby hands on for his illegal war in Ukraine’.
‘These latest sanctions also bear down on Russia’s attempts to sow instability across Africa, directly targeting mercenary groups with links to the Kremlin who seek to exploit the fragile security environments and natural resources in these countries for its gain and exposing the Kremlin’s attempts to expand its sphere of influence,’ he added.
‘Let me be clear; Putin and his cronies have nowhere left to hide.
‘In the last month alone, I have directly targeted Russia’s illicit shadow fleet, condemned the abhorrent use of banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, cracked down on malicious Russian cyber gangs and sanctioned the Kremlin’s mouthpieces who recklessly spread Putin’s lies across the world.’
The Foreign Secretary vowed to ‘tirelessly bear down on the Kremlin and support the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom for as long as it takes’.
