Western sanctions must also cover countries helping Russia - expert

Russia has been using friendly third countries to circumvent Western sanctions, in particular, to procure the necessary technology, goods, equipment, and produce sanctioned goods through fictitious companies in order to continue their war against Ukraine. Therefore the West must extend sanctions, earlier imposed on Russia, to countries that are assisting the aggressor power.

This was stated in a comment to Guildhall by Oleksander V. Danylyuk, Head of the Center for Defense Reforms, Coordinator of the Interdepartmental Platform for Combating Hybrid Threats, which operates within the framework of Ukraine-NATO cooperation, Ukrinform reports.

"Already today we are recording the facts of Russia using friendly countries to circumvent Western sanctions. The government of the Russian Federation and the Russian special services are effectively setting up purchases of required goods and technology, including for their war against Ukraine, through front companies based in third countries. Plans have been developed to set up production of sanctioned goods in friendly jurisdictions by purchasing the necessary Western equipment and technology from such states,” he said.

"We call for extending sanctions against Russia to those countries that support it, thereby supporting a nation that is waging war against Ukraine, carrying out terrorist attacks against civilians and committing war crimes en masse," Oleksander Danylyuk said.

Media reports earlier noted the facts of Russian state-owned companies and financial institutions circumventing Western sanctions.

One of the leading Ukrainian media published an inquiry into how, despite sanctions on arms imports, Russia is installing at its own military hardware, tanks, warplanes, and ships certain equipment from the United States and the European Union.

The BBC investigation exposed the Kalashnikov manufacturer trying to circumvent sanctions for the purchase of a high-quality cartridge line in Italy.

Ukraine’s defense intelligence reported of the Russian state company Roscosmos bypassing sanctions through Gazprombank