The U.S. last week indicted 14 North Korean nationals working as part of a “long-running” conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions. DOJ said they used fake or borrowed identities of Americans and others to pose as remote information technology employees for U.S. companies and generate revenue for the North Korean government.
New guidance published by the EU last week outlines steps people and companies should take to make sure their dual-use goods and technology aren’t being sent to Russia, including red flags they should be monitoring as part of their compliance programs. It also offers insight into how the European Commission interprets violations of the bloc’s anti-circumvention laws, with a specific focus on minimum due diligence expectations for businesses and banks.
EU ambassadors agreed to another round of Russia sanctions this week, including more designations of Russian entities and companies in third countries indirectly contributing to Russia’s “military and technological enhancement through the circumvention of export restrictions,” the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU said in a Dec. 11 post on X.
The Western regional manager of a New York-based freight forwarding company was arrested Dec. 10 for her alleged involvement in a scheme to violate U.S. export controls and sanctions on Russia, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. The manager, Natalya Mazulina, faces 12 counts of various export-related crimes.
Canada announced new sanctions against both China and Russia on Dec. 10 to mark International Human Rights Day, designating former or current officials with both countries’ governments or security services.
House Republicans have chosen Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the next Congress.
The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed temporary denial orders for two Russian airlines that it said continue to illegally operate aircraft on flights into and out of Russia. The agency renewed denial orders for Siberian Airlines and Nordwind Airlines for one year from Dec. 6, saying they continue to "act in blatant disregard for U.S. export controls and the terms of previously issued TDOs," including by operating flights between Russia and Thailand, China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. BIS last renewed the orders in December 2023 (see 2312130011).
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added to its sanctions regimes for Russia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Dec. 9. OFSI designated Anto Joseph for making funds available in ways that threaten Ukraine, and sanctioned Alain Goetz for contributing to "serious human rights violations" in the DRC.
The U.S. and Latvian governments last week gathered officials from the U.K., Canada, the EU and Ukraine to discuss export controls and sanctions in Latvia, including how those measures are affecting Russia, the Latvian government said in a news release.
Western countries should impose additional sanctions on Belarus for supplying Russia’s war machine, helping Moscow evade sanctions and indoctrinating Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, three witnesses told the congressionally led U.S. Helsinki Commission Dec. 5.