United States slams new sanctions on Russians for cyber-crimes
On Tuesday, the United States imposed sanctions on two Russians, one
Russian company and one Slovakian company for what Washington said were
their actions to help another Russian company avoid sanctions over the
country’s malicious cyber-related activities.
The U.S. Treasury said the sanctioned companies, Saint
Petersburg-based Vela-Marine Ltd and Slovakia-based Lacno S.R.O., and
the two individuals helped Divetechnoservices evade previously imposed
sanctions.
In June, the United States sanctioned Divetechnoservices, also based
in Saint Petersburg, for procuring underwater equipment and diving
systems for Russian government agencies, including Russia’s FSB
intelligence agency. The Obama administration sanctioned the FSB in
December 2016, citing the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of
U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the 2016 U.S. presidential
election.
In a statement on the Russian foreign ministry’s website, Russian
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the latest sanctions
groundless and promised a response from Moscow.
Ryabkov’s criticism extended to separate sanctions Washington imposed
on Tuesday on two Russian shipping companies that it said were involved
in transferring refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels in
violation of Unite Nations restrictions.
The U.S. Treasury said the two individuals targeted on Tuesday under
the cyber-related sanctions programme, Marina Igorevna Tsareva and Anton
Aleksandrovich Nagibin, had both helped Divetechnoservices attempt to
circumvent U.S. sanctions.
The head of Vela-Marine told Reuters he did not understand why his
company was being designated. Speaking by telephone, Andrei Kuklin, head
of the company, said, “Unfortunately I cannot comment. I don’t
understand what the problem is.”
Reuters was unable to immediately determine contact information for
Lacno, which does not have its own website and which does not list any
contact number on the Slovak finance ministry registry of firms website.
Nagibin did not answer a call seeking comment. Reuters was not
immediately able to identify contact information for Tsareva.
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