- The UK has sanctioned 85 individuals and entities involved in the forced deportation, indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children, alongside those driving Russia’s information warfare campaigns
- In some of the toughest action to date, the UK is exposing and combatting hostile Russian activity across multiple fronts, including recent attempts to interfere in Armenian elections
- An additional £1.2 million in UK funding will help identify and return Ukrainian children to their homes and communities
The UK is today [Monday 11 May] exposing and taking action against Russia’s hostile and heinous activity at every level, from its systematic campaign to forcibly deport and militarise Ukrainian children to recent attempts to interfere in upcoming Armenian elections.
Today’s action represents some of the toughest measures the UK has taken to target hostile Russian activity to date, directly hitting 85 individuals and entities. As Russia relentlessly seeks to undermine democratic process and global support for Ukraine, this latest tranche of sanctions cracks down on malicious information warfare campaigns.
New measures target 49 individuals working for the Social Design Agency (SDA), including writers, translators and video makers responsible for deceptive Kremlin propaganda. The SDA has been tasked and funded by the Kremlin to deliver a series of interference operations designed to undermine democracy and weaken support for Ukraine.
In continuing to expose Russia’s hostile and malign activities, the UK is today calling out that the Social Design Agency has planned campaigns which were almost certainly tasked by the Russian Presidential Administration, including seeking to establish pro-Russia organisations in Armenia and influence a change in power towards pro-Russia figures.
Elsewhere, the UK can also reveal that sanctioned entity ANO Dialog is tasked by the Russian Presidential Administration and has worked alongside Russian intelligence services to carry out malign influence campaigns on behalf of the Government of Russia. ANO Dialog has also coordinated with Russian intelligence on interference plans aimed at Armenian domestic politics.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said:
The UK will not stand idly by as Putin seeks to sow lies and pro-Kremlin narratives abroad.
Today’s sanctions are a strong step in exposing and disrupting the depths Russia is willing to go, to interfere and undermine democracy, and destroy Ukraine’s future through the abhorrent deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.
The UK’s support for Ukraine remains ironclad and we will continue to work alongside our allies to support every effort to identify and trace the children that have been cruelly taken from their communities and bring them home.
Among those sanctioned today for their role in the heinous policy of Russification of Ukrainian children is the Centre for Military Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth, known as the ‘Warrior Centre’. Here, Ukrainian children are subjected to military training and pro‑Kremlin ideology.
Also sanctioned is Yulia Sergeevna Velichko, Minister for Youth Policy in the so‑called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’, for her role in implementing state‑led initiatives for the deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children, including the issuing of Russian passports to children from temporarily occupied territories and organising programmes that expose them to Russian ideology.
The announcement comes as Sanctions Minister Stephen Doughty travels to Brussels to attend the High-Level meeting of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. While in Brussels, the Minister will announce a further £1.2 million of UK funding for the Verification Centre and Tracing Mechanism, helping to identify and locate Ukrainian children who have been cruelly taken from their homes.
The UK will continue to crack down on those who carry out malign activity on behalf of the Kremlin and organisations seeking to spread lies and undermine democracy in defence of our values. To date, the UK has sanctioned over 3,300 targets to clamp down on those fuelling Russia’s war efforts, from disrupting military supply chains to tackling the weaponisation of irregular migration.
Notes to editors:
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This latest sanction package includes 29 targets linked to Russia’s systematic campaign to forcibly deport and militarise Ukrainian children, and a further 56 designations targeting those responsible for the Kremlin’s information warfare.
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Russia’s heinous policy of forced deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children is a clear attempt to sever cultural and national ties to their home country. To date, over 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred or deported to Russia and within the temporarily occupied territories. Sanctions are a critical tool in the UK’s arsenal to expose these injustices, uncover the perpetrators and defend the identity and values Ukraine is fighting to protect.
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The Centre for Military Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth operates a network of facilities across Russia and Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.
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Among those forcibly deported, an estimated 6,000 children have been taken to re‑education camps, where they are subjected to propaganda designed to erase Ukrainian identity and instil pro‑Russian, highly militarised beliefs.
- The UK is providing a further £1.2million to the tracing and verification of illegally deported Ukrainian children. This includes
- £600,000 for the Verification Centre which is locating these children and provided strong evidence to the UN Commission of Inquiry to support their conclusions that Russia’s actions constitute crimes against humanity.
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£600,000 for the Ukrainian led Tracing programme which is tracing and locating thousands of Ukrainian children illegally deported by Russia.
- view the full UK Sanctions List
