Zelenskyy signs new sanctions targeting Russian crypto, defense financing

Zelenskyy said the sanctions were imposed at the request of Ukraine’s National Bank and reflect both a domestic initiative and coordination with international partners.

“Just through one company — now on the sanctions list — and only since the beginning of this year, meaning before sanctions were in place, the Russians moved several billion dollars, mostly for the needs of their military-industrial complex,” Zelenskyy said.

He added that as most traditional financial routes are blocked, Russia is increasingly turning to cryptocurrency transactions.

“This latest package includes sanctions against 60 legal entities. We will work with our partners to align our sanctions — Ukrainian and European, and with other key jurisdictions around the world,” he said. “The package also targets 73 individuals, all Russian nationals. We’ll be synchronizing those sanctions as well.”

Zelenskyy also previewed new steps next week to coordinate sanctions with the European Union, emphasizing that all EU sanctions packages should be implemented under Ukrainian jurisdiction, and vice versa.

“Sanctions are already depriving Russia of its future and must make everyday life for the Russian system significantly harder,” Zelenskyy said.