US Treasury sanctions two Russian individuals, four entities

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 Jul 2022 23:15

Washington this time is after individuals that have led activism against its pompously domineering practices.

Alexander Ionov, the president of the Stop-Imperialism Global Information Agency, at the conference “A Dialogue of Nations: the Right to Self-Determination and the Construction of a Multipolar World,” Moscow, September 25, 2016.

Washington has imposed a new round of sanctions against 2 Russian individuals and 4 entities for their alleged malign influence in the United States, according to the US Department of Treasury on Friday in a press conference.

“Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as part of a joint action with the Department of Justice, sanctioned two individuals and four entities that support the Kremlin’s global malign influence operations and election interference activities," the release said.

"The individuals and entities designated today played various roles in Russia’s attempts to manipulate and destabilize the United States and its allies and partners, including Ukraine."

The two designated individuals are Natalya Burlinova and Aleksandr Ionov.

Three out of the four sanctioned companies have connections to Ionov, including the Stop-Imperialism Global Information Agency, Ionov Transcontinental, and Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia.

According to the Treasury, since mid-2018, Ionov's actions sought to find possible points of instability in the US to create socio-political disturbance by providing financial support for a number of organizations.

The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, of which Ionov is the president and founder, is allegedly linked to separatists in the US and abroad. The organization reportedly holds conferences and protests in the US in protest of US policy.

The Justice Department claimed, in a separate press release, that Ionov recruited 3 political groups in Florida, Georgia, and California and brought them to serve Russian interests, as well as coordinated covering of the said activities in Russian media outlets.

However, regarding the sanctioning of Ionov Transcontinental, the Treasury did not provide an explanation for the decision and only said the company had worked in Iran, Venezuela, and Lebanon.

The US Treasury, furthermore, also did not explain why the Center for Support and Development of Public Initiative Creative Diplomacy and Burlinova - who founded the company - were sanctioned, except for the explanation that they're funded by Moscow.

If found guilty of involvement in getting US citizens to act as illegal agents for Moscow, Ionov may face a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, according to the release.