Russia-Ukraine war live: US sanctions three Russian officials over Alexei Navalny’s death | Ukraine

Faced with an ultimatum, Navalny’s mother demands that authorities comply with the law and hand over her son’s body, Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokesperson, wrote on X on Friday:

“She is demanding compliance with the law, according to which investigators are obliged to hand over the body within two days of establishing the cause of death. According to the medical documents she signed, these two days expire tomorrow.”

Here are some of the major targets of the recent wave of US sanctions against Russia:

• Russia’s financial infrastructure: More than a dozen Russian banks, investment firms, venture capital funds, and fintech companies, including SPB bank owned by SPB exchange, Russia’s second-largest stock exchange, have been targeted.

  The US treasury department said it was also imposing sanctions on state-owned National Payment Card System, the operator of the Mir payment system. Mir payment cards have become more important since its US rivals suspended operations in Russia after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. “The Government of Russia’s proliferation of Mir has permitted Russia to build out a financial infrastructure that enables Russian efforts to evade sanctions and reconstitute severed connections to the international financial system,” the Treasury’s statement said.

• Russia’s nuclear sector: The US targeted the Alexandrov Research Institute of Technology, a subsidiary of Rosatom, the state nuclear company, which the state department has said is involved in designing, testing and supporting nuclear power and naval propulsion reactors, including for Russian submarines.

• Russia’s military industrial base: Nearly 60 entities and individuals involved in the manufacture of weapons, ammunition, and associated material have been targeted.

• Trade restrictions: New trade restrictions have been imposed on 93 entities from Russia, China, Turkey, the UAE, Kyrgyzstan, India and South Korea for supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, according to a federal government notice posted online on Friday. The action means companies will be placed on the commerce department’s “Entity List,” essentially banning US shipments to them. Of the new entities listed, 63 were from Russia, 16 from Turkey, eight from China and four from the UAE.

• Russia’s metals and mining: The US have targeted gold producer Uzhuralzoloto, Russia’s largest pipe producer, Pipe Metallurgical Company, and aluminum products producer Samara Metallurgical Plant. Major Russian steelmaker Mechel was added to the list, with the treasury saying that its subsidiary provided steel used in Russia’s KA-52 attack helicopter.

• Russia’s energy production: The US have taken further aim at the Arctic LNG 2 project in Siberia. In November, Washington imposed sanctions on a major entity involved in the development, operation and ownership of the massive project. It has now also targeted several other companies with ties to the project.

• Sanctions evasions: The US have imposed sanctions on entities based in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan over the evasion of western sanctions on Russia and backfilling, including for sending items Moscow relies on for its weapons systems.

• Russia-Iran military cooperation: Washington has imposed sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) for the first time under a Russia authority, though it was already under US sanctions.

‘Agree to secret funeral or he is buried in prison,’ Navalny’s mother told

The Netherlands will sign a 10-year security pact with Ukraine

The Netherlands said on Friday it will sign a 10-year security deal with Ukraine for continued military support, help in reconstruction and the improvement of its cyber defences.

The agreement will be signed soon, helping Ukraine in its continued fight against Russia’s invasion, Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said.

“Without western support, Ukraine as we know it will cease to exist,” Bruins Slot said. “The Russian threat will move closer, putting pressure on the stability and safety of our continent.”

Germany signed a similar agreement with Ukraine last week.

White House accuses House speaker of aiding Iran in latest Ukraine aid push

Ukraine probing over 122,000 suspected war crimes, prosecutor tells Reuters

Ukraine has launched investigations into more than 122,000 suspected cases of war crimes since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly two years ago, Ukrainian Prosecutor Gen Andriy Kostin said on Friday.

“We have identified already 511 perpetrators. And we have already 80 convictions in Ukrainian courts,” mostly in absentia, Kostin told Reuters during a conference on international criminal law in Berlin.

While Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces have committed atrocities or attacked civilians, Ukrainian and western authorities say there is evidence of murders and executions, shelling of civilian infrastructure and forced deportations, among other crimes. The number of suspected war crimes is expected to continue rising, Kostin said.

US imposes sweeping sanctions on Russia, targets Russian firms and individuals connected to Navalny’s death

The US Treasury, state department and commerce department plan Friday to impose roughly 600 new sanctions on Russia and its “war machine” in the largest single tranche of penalties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

“The American people and people around the world understand that the stakes of this fight extend far beyond Ukraine,” president Joe Biden said in a statement announcing the sanctions. “If Putin does not pay the price for his death and destruction, he will keep going. And the costs to the United States, along with our Nato allies and partners in Europe and around the world, will rise.”

Many of the new US sanctions target Russian firms that contribute to the Kremlin’s war effort, including drone and industrial chemical manufacturers and machine tool importers, as well as financial institutions. In response to Navalny’s death, the US state department is designating three Russian officials the US says are connected to his death. It also will impose visa restrictions on Russian authorities it says are involved in the kidnapping and confinement of Ukrainian children.

In addition, 26 third-country people and firms from across China, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates, and Liechtenstein are listed for sanctions, for assisting Russia in evading existing financial penalties.

Russian businessman Mints can take sanctions appeal to UK supreme court, his lawyers say

Prominent Russian businessman Boris Mints can take his bid to pause an $850m fraud lawsuit, brought by two Russian banks to the UK’s supreme court, his lawyers said in court filings on Friday.

Mints and his sons Dmitry, Alexander and Igor are being sued by National Bank Trust, which is 99% owned by the Central Bank of Russia, on behalf of Otkritie Bank, once Russia’s largest private lender before it collapsed in 2017. Lawyers representing the Mints family, who deny the banks’ fraud allegations, had said the lawsuit should be indefinitely put on hold because, if the banks win at trial, any damages could not be paid as Otkritie Bank is under British sanctions.

Their application was rejected by the High Court in London in January 2023 and an appeal against that decision was dismissed in October.

However, lawyers representing the Mints family said in court filings for a preliminary hearing that the UK supreme court had granted permission to appeal. Permission was granted last month but only became known publicly on Friday.

“The timing of the appeal hearing is presently unknown, but it is expected to be listed for later this year,” they said.

The Mints’ application to put the lawsuit on hold will be the first time the supreme court has considered the UK’s sanctions regime in relation to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

Council of Europe confirms “unwavering support” for Ukraine

Europe’s highest rights body on Friday reiterated its “unwavering support” for Ukraine on the eve of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of its pro-western neighbour.

“We mark an anniversary that no one of wanted to see,” said Marija Pejcinovic Buric, secretary-general of the Council of Europe. “Our thoughts today are with the Ukrainian people.”

The Council of Europe, which comprises 46 member states, was set up to monitor and uphold human rights in Europe after World War II. Members kicked out Russia after its invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

The council’s commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatovic, said “serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law” continued to be committed. “Every effort must be made to hold accountable those responsible for all human rights violations and crimes committed in this war,” she said.

Last year the council agreed to create a register of claims for reparations towards damages inflicted in the war. From late April, Ukrainians will be able to register their claims online using an existing government app called Diia, where they can already report Russian soldiers.

Protesting farmers spill Ukrainian rapeseed on Polish railway

Polish police are investigating an incident on Friday in which a load of rapeseed was spilled from train trucks carrying the cargo from Ukraine near the border crossing with Poland, Reuters reports. It is the second incident this week amid protests by angry farmers.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for restoration, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said on X that the “criminals must be punished”.

In a previous incident this week, police said on Tuesday that protesting farmers had pried open freight cars and spilled grain on the tracks at another Polish border crossing.

Farmers in Poland are protesting against what they call “uncontrolled” imports from its war-torn neighbour, souring otherwise friendly ties between Warsaw and Kyiv. Across Europe, angry farmers have been protesting over rising costs, high fuel prices, bureaucracy and EU environmental rules.

A Ukrainian government working group will on Friday visit the border with Poland, which is blocked by Polish farmers, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Zelenskiy said he was not aware whether Polish representatives would be there.

Summary so far

Moscow bans more EU officials and politicians from Russia in response to new sanctions

Biden announces new sanctions against Russia two years into Ukraine war

Russian foreign minister Lavrov discussed Ukraine with Brazil’s Lula, Moscow says

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation in Ukraine with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a meeting on Thursday, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said, “President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reiterated Brazil’s position in favour of resolving the conflict in Ukraine by addressing the legitimate security concerns of all parties, emphasising the futility of unilateral initiatives and ultimatums.”

Russian cultural figures urge release of Navalny’s body

Several leading Russian cultural figures and activists have called on authorities to release the body of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison last Friday.

Alexei Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, said on Thursday that she has been shown her son’s body. Navalnaya accused Russian investigators of “blackmailing” her over the funeral of her son in a video published on YouTube. She claims they are trying to force her to hold a private burial ceremony without mourners.

More than 25 film-makers, artists, ballet stars, Nobel prize winners and opponents of president Vladimir Putin have so far called for his body to be released.

“Just give Lyudmila her son … without any conditions,” Dmitry Muratov, journalist and winner of the Nobel Peace prize said, in a video published on social media.