In the first round of sanctions since President Trump walked back Nikki Haley’s hint back in April, and as the White House is reportedly planning a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Trump administration on Monday slapped sanctions on five Russian firms and three of their executives on allegations of engaging in cyberattacks and assisting Russia’s military and intelligence services.
According to the Associated Press, the companies affected by the Treasury Department sanctions are: Digital Security and its subsidiaries ERPScan and Embedi; the Kvant Scientific Research Institute; and Divetechnoservices. The men impacted include Aleksandr Lvovich Tribun; Oleg Sergeyevich Chirikov; and Vladimir Yakovlevich Kaganskiy; all of whom work for Divetechnoservices. The sanctions were passed under legislation passed last year by Congress about punishing efforts to hack into US computer networks. The sanctions will freeze any assets the targets have in US jurisdictions and bar American firms from doing business with them.
The sanctions followed the Treasury Department’s decision in early April to punish seven Russian oligarchs and 17 top Russian government officials, as well as 14 entities including private and state-owned firms.
NEW: The U.S. Treasury Dept. sanctions Russian companies and individuals for “engaging in significant malicious cyber-enabled activities.” https://t.co/WynN82THv2 pic.twitter.com/LUtytMFVQR
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 11, 2018
Digital Security allegedly provided material and technological support to Russia’s Federal Security Services (FSB), while Divetechnoservices purportedly procured a variety of underwater equipment and diving systems, including a submarine, for Russian government agencies.
The decision to slap more sanctions on powerful Russians was notably made while President Trump is out of the country. Putin recently praised Trump as “courageous and mature” for going ahead with the meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
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