Ukraine's new sanctions reach 20 shadow-fleet tankers, Rostec's supply chain and Zelenskyy's former spokeswoman
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed three decrees on 13 September enacting sanctions decided by the National Security and Defence Council. The lists cover 20 vessels Russia uses to export oil, oil products and liquefied gas; 29 Russian citizens and 29 companies tied to the state defence-industry corporation Rostec; and 10 Russian and Ukrainian individuals accused of spreading propaganda. Among the last group is Zelenskyy's former press secretary Yuliia Mendel, who called the sanctions unconstitutional. Kyiv said it would share the lists with partners.
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The 20 listed vessels carry oil to India, Egypt and Turkey
The first decree targets 20 vessels Russia uses to export oil, oil products and liquefied gas, the ships known as its shadow fleet. According to the president's office, the tankers carry oil from Russian ports to India, Egypt and Turkey and sail under the flags of Liberia, the Marshall Islands, Sierra Leone, Barbados and Palau. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the presidential commissioner for sanctions policy, said enterprises of Rostec, Russia's state defence-industry corporation, supply up to 80 percent of the weapons used against Ukraine. Kyiv said it would pass all the information on the lists to its partners so that the sanctions can be synchronised in other jurisdictions.[1]
Rostec's supply chain: 29 people and 29 companies
The second decree imposes sanctions on 29 Russian citizens and 29 companies linked to Rostec. According to the president's office, the listed companies include suppliers of precision industrial equipment, electronics and components for missile and drone production; producers of dual-use goods; research organisations that draft technical documentation for Russia's defence industry; an educational institution that trains staff for companies of the Kalashnikov concern; and IT firms that develop and maintain software for encryption, data collection and database management. Companies that design solutions and supply high-technology equipment to defence-industry firms were listed as well.[1]
The third decree reaches former spokeswoman Mendel
The third decree restricts 10 Russian and Ukrainian individuals accused of spreading disinformation and Russian propaganda and of supporting Russia's aggressive policy towards Ukraine. Among them is Yuliia Mendel, who served as Zelenskyy's press secretary. In a May interview with the US host Tucker Carlson, Mendel claimed, citing unnamed conversations, that Ukraine's delegation at the 2022 Istanbul talks had been ready to accept Russia's demands. According to the Kyiv Independent, the sanctions strip Mendel of her state awards, bar her from moving capital out of Ukraine and freeze her assets. In a post on X, Mendel wrote that she had anticipated the possibility of sanctions, that this did not change her position and that sanctioning Ukrainian citizens was unconstitutional; she added that she was due to speak at a European Parliament sideline event at the invitation of Germany's far-right AfD.[1], [2]
