Australia imposed sanctions on an additional 67 Russians for their roles in Moscow’s war in Ukraine, Australia's foreign affairs ministry said April 7. The sanctions, which were levied after reports of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, target senior Russian military and government officials. Australia said it now has sanctioned nearly 600 people and entities related to the Russian war in Ukraine (see 2203180006, 2203080008 and 2204050019).

With the administration considering sanctions on Kaspersky Labs, companies should be assessing not only their own use of the Russia-based software vendor’s cybersecurity offerings, but also use by their vendors and suppliers of Kaspersky’s products, law firm Crowell said on April 6.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 5 sanctioned Hydra Market, a Russia-based darknet market used to buy and sell illegal goods, and identified more than 100 virtual currency addresses associated with Hydra’s operations. The agency also sanctioned Garantex, a virtual currency exchange with operations in Moscow. OFAC said that more than $100 million worth of transactions associated with Garantex “are associated with illicit actors and darknet markets.”

The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in an April 5 notice amended the sanctions listing for private Russian military contractor Wagner Group. OFSI updated the name on the listing.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in an April 5 speech in Strasbourg the scope of the EU's fifth round of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, according to prepared remarks. The sanctions consist of "six pillars" along with a host of restrictions on individuals close to the Russian regime.

The U.S. and allies plan to issue a host of new Russia sanctions today, April 6, including new investment restrictions and more sanctions targeting financial firms, state-owned companies and government officials, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said April 5. The sanctions, previewed earlier this week by U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan (see 2204040003), are part of the administration's efforts to impose "consequences" on Russia and "hold Russian officials accountable" for the country's war in Ukraine, Psaki said. "Our objective here is to deplete the resources that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has to continue his war against Ukraine," Psaki said. "And obviously causing more uncertainty and challenges to their financial system is a part of that."

The U.K. amended one entry under its Russia sanctions regime, altering the listing information for Andrey Anatolyevich Turchak. In another notice, the U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended two entries under its ISIL (Da'esh) and al-Qaida sanctions regime. OFSI updated the listing information for Emraan Ali and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan (ISIL-K).

A group of non-EU European countries aligned with the EU's March 10 sanctions decision to add 14 Russian businesspeople and 146 members of the Russian Federation Council to the sanctions regime over Russia's invasion of Ukraine (see 2203100021). Aligning were North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Ukraine.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five entities that provide support to North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs following a series of ballistic missile launches over the past several months. OFAC said the actions target a North Korean WMD research and development organization along with four of its revenue-generating subsidiaries.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 1 fined S&P Global, a business analytics firm, $78,750 for violating U.S. Ukraine-related sanctions regulations. OFAC said the case was non-egreious, partly due to S&P's cooperation and agreement to improve its compliance program.