The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned two members of the Russian “hacktivist group” Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova and Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko, for cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. OFAC said Pankratova is the group's leader and Degtyarenko is its primary hacker, and they have helped the group conduct cyberattacks against Ukraine and governments and companies supporting Ukraine.
European officials last week called for more EU-U.S. cooperation on China policy, particularly around trade restrictions, to respond to Beijing’s unfair market practices and deter its military.
Japanese authorities last week arrested the representative of a trading company for allegedly illegally exporting controlled items subject to sanctions on Russia, Baker McKenzie said in a client alert. The Russian citizen's arrest marks the first of its kind in Japan involving illicit exports to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
When Bloomberg asked former President Donald Trump if he has thought about easing or eliminating sanctions on Russia as part of a peace settlement in Ukraine if he is reelected, the Republican nominee replied, "Yeah. So what we’re doing with sanctions is we’re forcing everyone away from us. So I don’t love sanctions. I found them very useful with Iran, but I didn’t even need sanctions with Iran so much. I told China that and Russia is in a similar position."
Virtual currency wallet and exchange operator Payeer was fined nearly $9 million for violating international sanctions, Lithuania's Financial Crime Investigation Service announced. Payeer operated the cryptocurrency exchange "Payeer.com," which Russian customers were allowed to use to carry out transactions in Russian roubles. Funds were sent to and from sanctioned Russian banks, the Lithuanian authority said. Per EU law, the exchange was supposed to be conducting customer identification to ensure sanctioned parties were not using its services, close sanctioned parties' accounts and tell the investigation service of the suspension. The service was found to have violated EU sanctions for over 1.5 years.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued new guidance July 16 to clarify how its Russia-related sanctions apply to certain business services, including operating or managing a trust.
The EU General Court last week annulled three European Council decisions sanctioning Vladimir Rashevsky, former CEO and director of mineral fertilizer giant EuroChem. The court didn't consider the most recent listing decision imposing sanctions on Rashevsky.
A Dutch construction equipment supplier will pay nearly $2 million after the Netherlands accused it of violating sanctions against Russia, the country’s public prosecutor office said last week. The Dieseko Group reached the settlement after the Netherlands said it sold pile drivers and related parts in 2015 and 2016 for the construction of the Crimean Bridge, which linked Russia and Crimea.
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently suspended the export privileges of four people, including two for violating U.S. restrictions against Russia and two others for illegal ammunition exports.
The Council of the European Union this week renewed until July 27, 2025, its sanctions on Iranian parties for supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. The restrictions apply to 12 people and nine entities, and were imposed on parties that supply unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles to the Russian military.