UK sanctions 22 Russian officials for their role in conscription & mobilisation amid war

The UK has decided to sanction 22 Russian officials for their role in conscription, mobilisation and recruitment of mercenaries with a criminal record. Since the Russia Ukraine war began, the UK has sanctioned 120 Russian entities. The Russian officials sanctioned by the UK include Russia's deputy prime minister Denis Valentinovich Manturov, who is responsible for overseeing Russia's weapons industry, as per the British Foreign and Commonwealth office. He is also responsible for equipping Russia's mobilised troops. 

Other people who have been sanctioned are ten governors and regional heads. The governors and regional heads who have been sanctioned belong to those parts of Russia which have supplied the most number of conscripts. Heads of Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kalmykia are amongst those who have been sanctioned. Arkady Gostev, the Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation, has been sanctioned because criminals have been sent to the front line in exchange for a pardon. Dmitry Bezrukikh, the head of the Federal Punishment Service of the Rostov region, has also been sanctioned as he has worked closely with Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, to recruit criminals as mercenaries. 

Impact of sanctions on Russian officials 

Ella Pamfilova, chairperson of the Central Election Commission and Andrey Burov, head of the regional election commission in Rostov have been sanctioned as well, because they were responsible for organising referendums in the four provinces that Russia has annexed. Sanctions by the UK are significant because several Russian officials have assets in the UK, as a result of which London is often called Londongrad. The city has a reputation of creative financial engineering, which helps people around the world to avoid taxes in their own nation. Mayfair is one of the areas that is notorious for being the address of many Russian officials and oligarchs, and before the Russia-Ukraine war, they made regular appearances to the Polo matches in the neighbourhood. The Russian foreign minister's daughter apparently lives in Kensington in a £4.5 million flat, which she paid for without any mortgage.

She used to study at Imperial College London. In an earlier tranche of sanctions, the UK government sanctioned her as well. The sanctions will prevent these officials from travelling into the UK. "Today we have sanctioned individuals who have enforced this conscription, sending thousands of Russian citizens to fight in Putin’s illegal and abhorrent war," said UK's foreign secretary James Cleverly. He added that the UK will continue to help Ukraine in its war effort by sanctioning Russian officials and providing military aid to Ukraine.