President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the National Security and Defense Council to investigate Ukrainians currently under U.S. sanctions.
“We have received instructions from the president to find out which Ukrainian citizens are under U.S. sanctions, who they are, and on what basis they ended up there,” said Security Council Head Oleksiy Danilov on June 4.
According to Danilov, U.S. sanctions have been imposed on 134 Ukrainian citizens.
“We instructed the Security Service, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Foreign Intelligence Service to verify all the information on each of them, to make appropriate decisions at the next meetings of the National Security and Defense Council, if necessary,” said Danilov, hinting that Ukraine may mirror U.S. sanctions.
The list of Ukrainians under U.S. sanctions includes many familiar faces.
On Jan. 11, the U.S. added seven Ukrainians and four organizations to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List for attempting to interfere in its 2020 presidential election.
All of the sanctioned Ukrainians are part of a Russia-linked foreign influence network associated with lawmaker Andriy Derkach, who had been accused of acting in Russia’s interests and attempting to interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
The list included Oleksandr Dubinsky, the Ukrainian lawmaker from Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. Before entering politics, he worked as an editor and host at the 1+1 TV channel, owned by billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky.
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In parliament, Dubinsky tried to block bills harming Kolomoisky’s interests, among them the bank law meant to prevent the nationalized PrivatBank from returning to the oligarch.
Dubinsky was expelled from Zelensky’s party after falling under U.S. sanctions.
In March, Kolomoisky was banned from entering the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called out Kolomoisky on March 5, accusing him of “involvement in significant corruption.”
The U.S. sanctions also targeted Ukraine’s former chief prosecutor Kostyantyn Kulyk, who investigated the involvement of U.S. President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in a scandal with Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Kulyk fell under U.S. sanctions together with Dubinsky in January.
The U.S. sanction list also includes fugitive businessman Oleksandr Onyshchenko and pro-Kremlin lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk who has been recently charged in Ukraine with treason.
Back in 2014, the U.S. sanctioned Medvedchuk for “being a threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
On Feb. 19, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on Medvedchuk, co-leader of the 44-member pro-Kremlin Opposition Platform – For Life faction, for financing terrorism.
Medvedchuk denied all accusations and said he will attend court hearings.
