KYIV, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he would impose sanctions on some foreign manufacturers that produce parts for Russian drones and missiles targeting Ukraine.
“It would be impossible to produce this weapon without critical foreign components, which the Russians continue to obtain by circumventing sanctions,” Zelensky said on X.
“We are imposing new sanctions on these companies – component suppliers and missile and drone manufacturers. I have signed off on the decision.”
According to two decrees issued by the Ukrainian president, the sanctions target a number of Chinese companies as well as companies from the former Soviet Union, United Arab Emirates and Panama.
Despite negotiations to end the four-year war, Russia has significantly increased the size and number of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in recent months, focusing its attacks on the energy and logistics sectors.
Zelensky said on X that in the past week, Russia launched more than 2,000 attack drones, 1,200 guided air-dropped bombs and 116 missiles of various types towards Ukrainian cities and villages.
Strikes at power plants and substations resulted in power and heating outages across the region, with the capital, Kiev, experiencing a 20-hour power outage.
Zelensky said he also imposed sanctions on Russia’s financial sector and institutions supporting Russia’s cryptocurrency market and mining operations.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Aidan Lewis)
