According to a government statement released on Tuesday, the UK has issued a new set of 16 penalties aimed against senior Russian commanders and Iranian businessmen.
As “Russia intensifies its campaign of terror on Ukraine, striking at key energy infrastructure and dragging its people into the gloom and bitter cold of winter,” the announcement was made.
The additional sanctions were directed at “high-level Russian officials for their roles in the Russian military’s brutal, unjustified invasion of Ukraine” and “commanders of military units implicated in missile strikes on Ukrainian cities,” among others.
“Designations also focus on Iranian businessmen and a military officer involved in the production and/or supply of military drones used to conduct strikes,” the statement continued.
In a statement, foreign secretary James Cleverly said, “The UK stands with Ukraine.”
“The planned assaults by Russian military on Ukrainian cities and defenseless citizens will not go unanswered,” he continued.
Cleverly added, “The Iranian leadership is making shady deals with Putin in a desperate attempt to survive, despite deafening appeals from within its own population for reform.
“Putin seeks to crush the will of Ukraine, but he will fail. The nation of Ukraine will triumph and rebuild.
According to the statement, the Iranian dictatorship is now isolated globally and is in desperate need of backing from Putin due to its “brutal repression of its own people and the threat it poses in the Middle East.”
According to the statement, Tuesday’s penalties cover people who “enabled the construction of these drones, including the co-owner and Managing Director of MADO, the business responsible for producing engines for the drones that have been employed by Russia in Ukraine.”