{"id":1228221,"date":"2022-01-20T17:24:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T22:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1228221"},"modified":"2022-01-20T17:24:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T22:24:50","slug":"u-s-sanctions-four-ukrainian-officials-for-allegedly-helping-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-sanctions-four-ukrainian-officials-for-allegedly-helping-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Sanctions Four Ukrainian Officials For Allegedly Helping Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fu-s-sanctions-four-ukrainian-officials-for-allegedly-helping-russia%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1228221&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"p1\">On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned four Ukrainian officials who are accused of assisting Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Treasury Department <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy0562\">stated<\/a> in a press release that it \u201csanctioned four individuals engaged in Russian government-directed influence activities to destabilize Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Department added that the \u201caction is intended to target, undermine, and expose Russia\u2019s ongoing destabilization effort in Ukraine\u201d and is \u201cseparate and distinct from the broad range of high impact measures the United States and its Allies and partners are prepared to impose in order to inflict significant costs on the Russian economy and financial system if it were to further invade Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It stated that the four people take action at the Russian Federal Security Service\u2019s (FSB) direction. The FSB is a counterintelligence service, which the U.S. has already sanctioned. It is considered to essentially be a modern-day replacement of the KGB. The people also \u201csupport Russia-directed influence operations against the United States and its allies and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The four people have taken part \u201cin Russia\u2019s global influence campaign to destabilize sovereign countries in support of the Kremlin\u2019s political objectives,\u201d it noted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The report noted that Russian intelligence operations, including the FSB, enlist Ukrainian citizens in important roles to achieve access \u201cto sensitive information, threaten the sovereignty of Ukraine, and then leverage these Ukrainian officials to create instability in advance of a potential Russian invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The individuals include two \u201cFSB pawns,\u201d who are currently Ukrainian Members of Parliament. The other two are former Ukrainian authorities supporting Russia who are connected to the FSB.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As The Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-vladimir-putin-ukraine-europe-russia-9c2e340dc7f23f58c2b05391dae37275\">reported<\/a>, Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/joe-biden-vladimir-putin-ukraine-europe-russia-9c2e340dc7f23f58c2b05391dae37275\">said<\/a> the four individuals were at the core of the Kremlin attempt that started in 2020 \u201cto degrade the ability of the Ukrainian state to independently function.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said, \u201cThe United States is taking action to expose and counter Russia\u2019s dangerous and threatening campaign of influence and disinformation in Ukraine,\u201d adding, \u201cWe are committed to taking steps to hold Russia accountable for their destabilizing actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The move comes as President Joe Biden receives criticism for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/there-are-no-minor-incursions-and-small-nations-ukraine-president-blasts-biden\">remarks<\/a> he made regarding the escalating situation between Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI think what you\u2019re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades,\u201d Biden&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2022\/01\/19\/remarks-by-president-biden-in-press-conference-6\/\">said<\/a>. \u201cAnd it depends on what it does. It\u2019s one thing if it\u2019s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Biden was later asked to clarify his statements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cYou said that Russia would be \u2018held accountable if it invades\u2019 and \u2018it depends on what it does\u2019; \u2018it\u2019s one thing if it\u2019s a minor incursion and \u2026 we end up having to fight about what to do and what not to do,\u2019\u201d one reporter said. \u201cAre you saying that a minor incursion by Russia into Ukrainian territory would not lead to the sanctions that you have threatened? Or are you effectively giving Putin permission to make a small incursion into the country?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cGood question. That\u2019s how it did sound like, didn\u2019t it?\u201d Biden responded, laughing. \u201cThe most important thing to do: Big nations can\u2019t bluff, number one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cAnd number two, the idea that we would do anything to split NATO, which would be a \u2014 have a profound impact on one of \u2014 I think prominent impact \u2014 on one of Putin\u2019s objectives is to weaken NATO \u2014 would be a big mistake,\u201d Biden continued. \u201cSo, the question is: If it\u2019s a \u2014 something significantly short of a significant invasion \u2014 or not even significant, just major military forces coming across \u2014 for example, it\u2019s one thing to determine that if they continue to use cyber efforts, well, we can respond the same way, with cyber.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky forcefully pushed back against Biden\u2019s commentary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWe want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations,\u201d Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZelenskyyUa\/status\/1484171183264129025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1484171183264129025%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/there-are-no-minor-incursions-and-small-nations-ukraine-president-blasts-biden\">tweeted<\/a>. \u201cJust as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones. I say this as the President of a great power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">On Thursday, during an appearance on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/psaki-promises-us-will-respond-to-a-russian-military-incursion-in-ukraine-with-severe-economic-consequences\">responded<\/a> to Zelensky\u2019s tweet in real time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWell, I would be very \u2013 thank you for the opportunity. I want to be very clear. The president has conveyed directly to President Putin if there is a movement of any military troops across the border, that is an invasion,\u201d Psaki said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cIf they go in, that is an invasion, and there will be severe economic consequences. I know President Zelensky knows that, and we\u2019ve conveyed that,\u201d Psaki continued. \u201cThere are a range of tactics the Russians use and have been warning about some of those steps including the spreading of misinformation out there, which has been widespread, was widespread in 2014, the use of cyber tools and we are also going to be ready to respond to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned four Ukrainian officials who are accused of assisting Russia. The Treasury Department stated in a press release that it \u201csanctioned four individuals engaged in Russian government-directed influence activities to destabilize Ukraine.\u201d The Department added that the \u201caction is intended to target, undermine, and expose Russia\u2019s ongoing destabilization &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1228221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1228221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1228221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1228221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1228221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1228221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}