US sanctions multiple entities related to Belarus’s military support to Russia

ISTANBUL

The US Treasury Department said Friday that it imposed sanctions on multiple entities related to Belarus' military support to Russia.

The sanctions include 19 individuals, 14 entities, and one aircraft.

"This action targets persons involved in supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine through military resource production and transshipment of goods to Russia, sanctions evasion on behalf of Belarusian defense entities, and revenue generation for Belarusian oligarchs in Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s inner circle," it said in a statement.

"Lukashenka’s support for Russia’s indefensible war against Ukraine comes at a high cost for Belarus. Lukashenka has traded his country’s autonomy and standing in the international community for his and his cronies’ own financial and political benefits," it added.

The Treasury Department said Lukashenka maintains a fleet of government of Belarus-owned planes that he uses professionally and for his personal leisure.

A Boeing 767-32K, owned by the government of Belarus and used as part of the fleet of presidential aircraft, was in the sanctions list.

Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said "As Belarus marks another year under Lukashenka’s rule, the regime’s blatantly corrupt, destabilizing, and anti-democratic acts—along with its continued support for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine—have only further ostracized Belarus from the global community."