US sanctions hundreds of firms accused of supplying Russia’s war machine
Associated PressWASHINGTON — The U.S. imposed sweeping sanctions Friday on hundreds of firms in Russia and across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, accusing them of providing products and services that enable Russia’s war effort and aiding its ability to evade sanctions. Friday’s action is the latest in a series of thousands of U.S. sanctions that have been imposed on Russian firms and their suppliers in other nations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Additionally, the State Department designated people and firms involved in Russia’s energy, metals and mining exports; drone production; subsidiaries of Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom; and people the U.S. says were involved in kidnapping Ukrainian children and making them identify as Russian. “Companies, financial institutions, and governments around the world need to ensure they are not supporting Russia’s military-industrial supply chains.” Earlier this year, the U.S. passed an aid package for Ukraine that allows the administration to seize Russian state assets located in the U.S. and use them for the benefit of Kyiv.