Some would target those involved in the death of Putin critic Alexei Navalny.
The U.S. on Friday will impose more than 500 sanctions on Russia, its enablers, and its war machine as the world marks two years since Russia attacked Ukraine, a Treasury Department spokesperson said.
This would be the largest single tranche since the start of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s invasion, administration officials said.
The sanctions, to be rolled out by the Treasury Department and State Department, will include additional measures intended to punish the Kremlin for its role in the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, officials said.
Following a meeting on Thursday with Navalny’s widow and daughter in San Francisco, President Joe Biden previewed the action, saying his administration would be “announcing sanctions against Putin, who is responsible for his death, tomorrow.”
Earlier Thursday, a high-level State Department official described the pending sanctions as “crushing.”
“Some of them will be targeted at folks directly involved in Navalany’s death. The vast majority of them though are designed to further attrite Putin’s war machine — to close the gaps in the sanctions regime that he has been able to evade,” Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said speaking at an event in Washington.
Officials familiar with the plans say many of the measures will take aim at Russia’s defense sector, including a number of entities already sanctioned by the U.S.
