The UK has targeted financial networks and crypto exchanges that Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions and finance the war in Ukraine. Sanctions Minister Stephen Doughty emphasized that these steps increase pressure on the Kremlin and suppress the financing of military operations. This is reported by UNN with reference to the official website of the UK government.
Financial networks that Russia uses to mitigate the impact of Western sanctions are being targeted by the UK today. Today's actions come amid a doubling of efforts by the UK and international allies to ensure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
Under pressure from sanctions, Russia began to use Kyrgyzstan's financial sector to transfer funds, including through cryptocurrencies.
Today's actions are concluded against the Kyrgyz Capital Bank and its director Kantemir Chalbaev, which Russia uses to pay for military goods. The sanctions also affected the cryptocurrency exchanges Grinex and Meer, the infrastructure of the new ruble-backed cryptocurrency token A7A5, which moved $9.3 billion on a specialized cryptocurrency exchange in just four months and was specifically designed as an attempt to circumvent Western sanctions.
Maintaining pressure on the Russian war machine is key to forcing Moscow into real negotiations, UK officials believe. At the same time, this is a critical step to strengthen security both in the UK and beyond.
If the Kremlin thinks it can hide its desperate attempts to mitigate the impact of our sanctions by laundering transactions through dubious crypto networks, it is deeply mistaken. These sanctions increase pressure on Putin at a critical moment and suppress the illegal networks used to channel money into his war chest.
Addition
The sanctions were imposed after a meeting in Washington of European leaders, President Zelenskyy and President Trump, aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
The new package of restrictions will cut off access to illegal schemes for obtaining funds and "confirm the determination to stop sanction circumvention mechanisms that finance the invasion of Ukraine, no matter where they operate."