WASHINGTON (AP) – In targeting Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters with sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration ripped aside the privacy Putin has long maintained over his closest ties – avoiding mention of the two women’s full names in public, and most other references to them as well.
The sanctions imposed on immediate family members of Putin and other Russian oligarchs also showcase improved techniques of the U.S. and its allies targeting individuals for financial penalties.
In Russia in particular and in autocracies around the world, sanctioning family members is often essential to making sure financial penalties have the desired punch. Powerful and wealthy leaders often employ the tactic common to many tycoons of putting assets under the names of spouses, children and others.
“We generally want to hold accountable those who have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian state and elevated their family members into some of the highest positions of power in the country,” said Morgan Finkelstein, a spokesperson for the Treasury Department.
“But also, we know that oligarchs and other sanctioned elites often try to move money or hide assets via family members or other associates,” she said.