The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. Under Presidential national emergency powers, OFAC carries out its activities against foreign states as well as a variety of other organizations and individuals, like terrorist groups, deemed to be a threat to U.S. national security.
Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg is a Ukrainian-born Russian-Israeli-Cypriot oligarch, billionaire, and businessman. He is the owner and president of Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate. According to Forbes, as of November 2021, his fortune is estimated at $9.3 billion, making him the 262nd richest person in the world.
United States sanctions are financial and trade restrictions imposed against individuals, entities, and jurisdictions that violate U.S. foreign policy or national security goals. Financial sanctions are primarily administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), while export controls are primarily administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law 95–223, 91 Stat. 1626, enacted October 28, 1977, is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States. The act was signed by President Jimmy Carter on December 28, 1977.
VTB Bank is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered in St. Petersburg; as of 2022 company's capital stock was mostly owned by three Russian agencies.
The United States has since 1979 applied various economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran. United States economic sanctions are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. Currently, United States sanctions against Iran include an embargo on dealings with the country by the United States, and a ban on selling aircraft and repair parts to Iranian aviation companies.
The Bank of Moscow was a Russian bank that provided banking services to both corporate and retail customers until May 2016. Headquartered in Moscow, the bank had 267 outlets, including branch offices and cash desks. BoM had over 114,000 corporate and 9 million retail customers. In 2011, it was the fifth largest bank in Russia. As of 1 July 2016, it had 6.3 million banking cards in its portfolio. Its central office was located in the building of the Moscow International Bank in Moscow, on the corner of Kuznetsky Most and Rozhdestvenka streets.
The Ukraine Support Act was a proposed act of congress that would have clarified U.S. policy to support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a democratic Ukraine, and in condemning Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. The bill would offer loan guarantees, various types of aid, and place sanctions on people who were "responsible for or engaged in actions that undermine democratic processes in Ukraine or that threaten its peace or territorial integrity, acts of significant corruption in Ukraine, or the commission of serious human rights abuses."
The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, and international criminals. The list is managed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). When individuals are added to the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), their U.S. assets are blocked. Moreover, their names are added to automated screening systems used by banks in the United States and many foreign countries, making it difficult for them to open or hold accounts, transfer money, or transact properties internationally. Any individual or entity that provides support related to terrorism, drug trafficking or unauthorized military use to any person or entity appearing on the SDN list risks being penalized under the USA PATRIOT Act.
International sanctions have been imposed against Russia and Crimea during the Russo-Ukrainian War by a large number of countries, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, and international organisations following the Russian annexation of Crimea, which began in late February 2014. Belarus has also been sanctioned for its cooperation with and assistance to Russian armed forces. The sanctions were imposed against individuals, businesses, and officials from Russia and Ukraine. Russia responded with sanctions against several countries, including a total ban on food imports from Australia, Canada, Norway, Japan, the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom.
Novikombank is a Russian bank specializing in financing of enterprises in the heavy-machinery, automotive, high-tech, oil and gas industry. Novikombank is ranked among the top 40 largest Russian banks. Member of the deposit insurance system.
Yuri Alekseevich Soloviev is a Russian-British banker who was first deputy president and chairman of the VTB Bank Management Board. He was sanctioned by the United States after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Igor Anatolyevich Komarov is a Russian industrialist, financier and manager. He served as Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District from 18 September 2018. In March 2014, he was appointed the head of the United Rocket and Space Corporation (ORKK). Komarov served as Director General of the State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos" between 21 January 2015 and 24 May 2018.
Martial law in Russia is defined in Russian law as a special legal regime that is introduced in conditions of external aggression or a threat of such. In this way, it differs from the state of emergency, which is introduced in the event of an internal threat such as an attempted coup, unrest or disaster. Martial law should also be distinguished from the State of War- a term that refers to the period between the outbreak of hostilities and their end. The procedure for introducing and abolishing martial law in Russia is defined in the federal constitutional law “On Martial Law” (2002). In modern Russia, martial law was introduced on 19 October 2022 during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine in the annexed regions of Ukraine, which by then were unilaterally declared by the whole state apparatus to be new federal subjects of Russia.
The United States government applies sanctions against certain institutions and key members of the Chinese government and its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), certain companies linked to the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and other affiliates that the US government has accused of aiding in human rights abuses. The US maintained embargoes against China from the inception of the People's Republic of China in 1949 until 1972. An embargo was reimposed by the US following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. From 2020 onward, the US imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against several Chinese government officials and companies, in response to the Uyghur genocide, human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Tibet, military-civil fusion, support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and fentanyl production.
Task Force KleptoCapture is a United States Department of Justice unit established in March 2022 with the goal of enforcing sanctions on Russian oligarchs in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The response of the United States to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in 2022 has been in favor of Ukraine. President Biden condemned the invasion, providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and sanctioning Russia and Belarus, the countries heavily involved in invading Ukraine.
