10 Super Rich Russians Hit Hard By US Sanctions Following Invasion of Ukraine

A former KGB leader, a diamond mine executive and a deputy prime minister — these are just some of the roles held by Russian oligarchs targeted by the Biden administration in its latest sanctions against members of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

Russia Ukraine War: As part of US’ latest efforts to financially cripple Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, the Joe Biden administration had targeted Vladimir Putin’s elite inner circle in its economic sanctions imposed last week.  The US Treasury identified 10 Russian oligarchs with close ties to Putin who “leverage their proximity to the Russian President to pillage the Russian state, enrich themselves, and elevate their family members into some of the highest positions of power in the country at the expense of the Russian people,” as per the press release. The sanctioned individuals, which now also include Putin, have used family members to “control their immense wealth,” according to the Treasury Department.

Here are the 10 wealthy elite of Russia being hit by the sanctions:

1. Sergei Borisovich Ivanov

• Borisovich Ivanov is Russia’s Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology, and Transport.
• Sergei Borisovich Ivanov is one of Putin’s “closest allies” who previously served as the Chief of Staff of the presidential executive office from 2011 to 2016 and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Russia before holding on to the current position.
• He served alongside Putin in the KGB and later became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

2. Sergei Sergeevich Ivanov, son of Sergei Borisovich Ivanov

• Sergeevich Ivanov is the CEO of Alrosa, a state-backed diamond mining company.
• Alrosa is partially owned by Russia and accounts for 28% of the world’s diamond mining capacity. Its sales last year totaled $4.2 billion, according to reports.
• The company was one of 11 Russian entities subjected to new debt and equity sanctions on Thursday. Alrosa has a market cap of $6.2 billion, according to Forbes, and a US branch headquartered in New York City.

3. Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev

• Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev also served in the KGB with Putin, later became head of the Federal Security Service, the main successor agency to the Soviet Union’s KGB.
• Patrushev is now secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council and was previously sanctioned in 2018.
• He was also implicated in the fatal radiation poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence official who defected to the West.

4. Andrey Patrushev, son of Nikolai Patrushev

• Andrey Patrushev was appointed in 2019 as the CEO of Gazprom Neft, the third-largest oil producer in Russia.
• The oil company was also listed among the 11 Russian entities subjected to last week’s economic sanctions.

5. Igor Ivanovich Sechin

• Igor Ivanovich Sechin is CEO, Chairman of the management board and Deputy Chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, one of the world’s largest publicly traded oil companies.
• The oil baron has been called the second most powerful man in Russia, after Putin.
• He also served as deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation from 2008 until 2012.
• The former Soviet military interpreter helped secure a $16 billion deal with BP, which gave the Russian company a 5 percent stake in the British oil company, Reuters reported in 2011.

6. Ivan Igorevich Sechin, son of Igor Ivanovich Sechin

Ivan Igorevich is reportedly a deputy department head at Roseneft.

7. Alexander Aleksandrovich Vedyakhin

• Vedyakhin currently serves as first deputy chairman of the executive board of Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution that was also sanctioned this week.
• Sberbank holds around a third of Russia’s bank assets. The sanctions require US financial institutions to reject any payments that Sberbank attempts to make in US dollars.

8. Andrey Sergeyevich Puchkov

• Andrey Sergeyevich is a high-ranking executive at VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest financial institution that was sanctioned this week.
• He was previously chairman of the FC Dynamo Moscow football club, according to The Wall Street Journal, and several other companies, including multiple real estate endeavors.
• VTB was dropped by a U.S. lobbying firm after sanctions were announced. Its website no longer appears to be functional.
• Puchkov also has stakes in two Moscow-based real estate companies.

9. Yuri Solovyev

• Soloviev was the first deputy president-chairman of the Board at VTB Bank. He had previously worked at Lehman Brothers and Deutsch Bank in London.
• He is currently the chairman of the board of directors of FC Dynamo Moscow football club.

10. Galina Olegovna Ulyutina

• Soloviev’s ex-wife was involved in a “golden passport scheme,” where Russia’s elite “pay” for citizenship by investing in a country. Such an arrangement allows wealthy foreigners to gain citizenship in exchange for a minimum amount of investment in certain countries.
• Golden passports in the US, Canada, and Europe are now being limited under sanctions against Russia.