Ukraine has imposed sanctions on 58 Russian citizens and 74 companies from Russia, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, and Belarus. On May 9, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree targeting the Belarusian companies Izovac and Izotec-M, both part of the Izovac group, as well as Russia’s Engineering Group and China’s Smart Kit Technology Limited. According to an investigation by the Belarusian Investigative Centre (BIC) and its partners, these firms supplied Russia with equipment used in military-industrial enterprises.

On April 24, BIC reported that companies in the Izovac group were bypassing international sanctions to deliver equipment from the US, Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries to Russia. This equipment is used in the production of microelectronics and optics, and can be used in the manufacture of weapons components.

The sanctions, enacted by Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council and signed by the president, will remain in force for 10 years. Measures include asset freezes, a complete halt to trade operations, bans on the transit of resources, revocation of licences, and restrictions on the transfer of technologies.

The investigation was conducted in collaboration with the global security nonprofit C4ADS, the investigative outlet Important Stories, Lithuania’s 15min.lt media, and Skhemy, a project by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Ukraine office, with support from the CyberPartisans hacker group.

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