U.S. Sanctions Six Russians Over Kerch Strait Attack on Ukraine

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury moved to increase pressure on Russia over a November attack on Ukrainian ships and soldiers in the Kerch Strait, sanctioning six Russians and about a half dozen defense firms in conjunction with the European Union and Canada.

“The United States and our transatlantic partners will not allow Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine to go unchecked,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement Friday. “The international community is strongly aligned against Russia’s naval attacks in the Kerch Strait, purported annexation of Crimea, and support for the illegitimate separatist-conducted elections in eastern Ukraine.”

Among those sanctioned were officials from Russia’s Federal Security Service: Gennadiy Medvedev, the deputy director of the border guard service; Sergey Stankevich, the head of the border directorate; and Andrey Shein, Stankevich’s deputy. Medvedev and Stankevich directly controlled and organized the attack on Ukrainian ships and their crews, while Shein participated in the operation, Treasury said.

Russia seized Crimea in 2014 and has exploited its control of the channel to choke off access to Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov to the north. Last November, Russian naval forces fired on and then seized three Ukrainian ships heading through the strait. President Vladimir Putin has brushed off demands from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron that he free 24 Ukrainian sailors captured during the incident.

The two-mile (three kilometer) wide Kerch Strait is a critical flashpoint as Putin looks to consolidate his grip over the Crimean peninsula and eastern Ukraine in defiance of sanctions from the European Union and the U.S.

Ukraine has been seeking international help to keep the Kerch Strait open ever since the incident last November.

In a separate statement, the State Department said the sanctions were part of a coordinated action with the European Union and Canada in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Canada said Friday it was imposing sanctions on 114 individuals and 15 entities as part of the effort.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joshua Gallu in Washington at jgallu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Bill Faries, Stephen Wicary

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