US sanctions have been imposed on China for providing “critical inputs to Russia’s military-industrial base” for use in the conflict with Ukraine. On Wednesday, US officials unveiled a comprehensive package that targets about 300 organizations in China, Russia, and other nations. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated, “Today’s actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia’s war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it.”
Among the nearly 300 targets are numerous individuals who are alleged to have assisted Russia in obtaining foreign technology and equipment. Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were among the other non-Russian entities that were targeted, besides China. According to a treasury statement, these businesses “allow Russia to acquire critically needed technology and equipment from abroad.” The State Department imposed the penalties, which included blacklisting more people and businesses associated with the energy, mining, and metals industries in Moscow as well as those linked to the February death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Siberian jail.
On Wednesday, the Russian army showed western tanks and military hardware that had been taken prisoner in Ukraine, causing long lines to develop in Moscow. Along with British and Australian armored vehicles and military gear built in Turkey, Sweden, Austria, Finland, South Africa, and the Czech Republic, it featured tanks from the US, Germany, and France. A comparable display of captured Russian tanks and weaponry was staged in Kyiv in 2023 by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russia has lost about 3,000 tanks in Ukraine, which is equivalent to its whole active pre-war inventory. Despite this, it claims to be increasing the manufacturing of new tanks and has enough lower-quality armored vehicles in storage for years’ worth of replacements.
By using riot control chemicals “as a method of warfare” in Ukraine and the choking toxin chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops, the US has accused Russia of breaking the worldwide ban on chemical weapons. The State Department stated that Russia’s use of the gas “comes from the same playbook as its operations to poison” Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in 2018 and Alexei Navalny in 2020 using the Novichok nerve agent. It also stated that it was sending its findings to Congress.
The State Department stated, “The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to achieve tactical gains on the battlefield and dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions.” The Ukrainian military claimed that in addition to using chloropicrin, Russian soldiers had also unlawfully utilized grenades that were packed with CS and CN gasses.
The US government declared that it was imposing sanctions on Russian state organizations and businesses associated with Moscow’s programs pertaining to chemical and biological weapons, including a military unit that was specifically designed to “enable the use” of chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces. Russia and other members of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are obligated to abide by the organization’s standards, and the state department is expected to report its findings to them.