US imposes sweeping sanctions targeting Russia over Ukraine war.

In addition to imposing sanctions on hundreds of individuals and entities, the United States on Thursday imposed broad new measures against Moscow over the war in Ukraine. These measures targeted Russia’s future energy capabilities, sanctions evasion, and a suicide drone that has posed a threat to Ukrainian troops and equipment.

The State Department said in a statement that the most recent actions are directed at a significant organization that is engaged in the creation, management, and ownership of the large-scale Arctic-2 LNG project in Siberia. The project planned to export liquefied natural gas, sometimes chilled natural gas, to international markets.

Additionally, Washington designated a network that it claimed was sourcing materials to assist in the production of the KUB-BLA and Lancet suicide drones that the Russian military is using in Ukraine. The drone’s inventor and designer were also named.

The Commerce Department released a statement on Thursday announcing that the Biden administration had placed twelve Russian companies on a trade block list for providing drones to Russia’s military that could be used to support Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The United States also took action against companies in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and China, evading sanctions. According to the Treasury Department, these companies were still sending high-priority dual-use goods to Russia, including parts that Moscow needs for its armament systems.

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on seven banks with operations in Russia and dozens of industrial companies, including Gazpromneft Catalytic Systems LLC, which the Treasury claimed produced chemical agents for Russia’s advanced oil refining.

Before the event, the Kremlin stated on Thursday that although it anticipated the West would continue to impose harsher sanctions on it because of the war, there was a growing perception that these measures would harm Western interests while Russia’s economy was recovering nicely.

China’s foreign ministry described the U.S. action as unilateral bullying and economic coercion. When asked about the sanctions, a ministry spokesperson said, “The United States should immediately correct its wrong practices and stop containing and suppressing Chinese firms,” during a regular media briefing on Friday.

Russia’s LNG shipments to Europe are being curtailed by the United States, a major LNG exporter, and has only outlawed the transportation of Russian gas through pipelines.

Although Arctic-2 LNG had anticipated beginning exports shortly, it is unclear how much Russian LNG would be prohibited by the new regulations. In September, Novatek (NVTK.MM), the biggest LNG producer in Russia, announced that it would begin shipping LNG from Arctic-2 LNG at the beginning of 2019.

LANCET DRONE, LNG
The U.S. is attempting to target Russia’s future energy production with the sanctions on limited liability company Arctic LNG 2 and previous measures placed on the project in September, much as it did with its forthcoming deep-sea, shale, and Arctic oil production following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea in 2014. These challenging projects are all dependent on Western technology.

To hold Russia accountable for the conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and left many cities in ruins, the United States, the European Union, and other Western countries have imposed a wide range of sanctions on Moscow in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions include those targeting Russian banks and President Vladimir Putin.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, “We will continue to use the tools at our disposal to raise the cost for Russia of waging this war and promote accountability for its atrocities and abuses in Ukraine.”

According to Ukrainian soldiers, the Lancet drone is an angular gray tube with two sets of four wings that has been posing an increasing threat on Ukraine’s front lines. Thursday’s action is the first that Washington has explicitly taken targeting this drone.