LONDON: The UK on Monday announced new sanctions in response to “Russia’s attempts to destroy Ukrainian national identity,” targeting those involved in the “forced deportation” of children from Ukraine to Russian-controlled territory.
Foreign minister James Cleverly announced the 14 sanctions ahead of a speech at the UN Security Council (UNSC) as part of a session on the war in Ukraine.
Among those sanctioned include Russia’s Education Minister Sergey Kravtsov and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Moscow Region, Ksenia Mishonova, said a Foreign Office statement.
The UK accused them of playing “an insidious role in Russia’s calculated programme of deportation, designed to erase Ukrainian cultural and national identity.”
It added that “over 19,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia or temporarily Russian controlled territory by Russian authorities.”
Many of those deported are relocated to a network of re-education camps, “where they are exposed to Russia-centric academic, cultural, patriotic, and military education,” said the UK.
“In his chilling programme of forced child deportation, and the hate-filled propaganda spewed by his lackeys, we see (Russia President Vladimir) Putin’s true intention - to wipe Ukraine from the map,” said Cleverly.
“Today’s sanctions hold those who prop up Putin’s regime to account, including those who would see Ukraine destroyed, its national identity dissolved, and its future erased.”
London has already sanctioned Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova “for her alleged involvement in the forced transfer and adoption of Ukrainian children.”
Two individuals were also sanctioned Monday for “spreading abhorrent propaganda designed to incite violence and hatred towards Ukraine and its people,” including Anton Krasovsky, a former Russia Today presenter.
Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova is also targeted for “using her position to support the Russian state’s damaging anti-Ukrainian policies.”
The UK and international partners have sanctioned over 1,600 individuals and entities since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.