US sanctions on Ukrainian politicians and media outlets
A look back at the US Treasury's sanctions announced on 11 January 2021, and the lockdown that Ukraine's government had imposed days earlier.
What did Washington's sanctions mean for Ukrainian public life on 11 January 2021? On that date the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on seven Ukrainian politicians, among them Oleksandr Dubinsky, Kostiantyn Kulyk and Oleksandr Onyshchenko. Four media outlets were also targeted: Era-Media, Only News, NabuLeaks and Skeptik.
The stated grounds were interference in the US presidential election and participation in a Russian foreign influence network. The measures therefore applied both to individuals who held or sought political roles in Ukraine and to outlets accused of spreading material as part of that network.
The announcement came as Ukrainian authorities were focused on the pandemic. On 8 January 2021 the Cabinet of Ministers had introduced a strict lockdown, to run until 24 January. Domestic attention was thus divided between public health restrictions and a foreign-policy matter with a direct bearing on Ukraine's political class.
The sanctions named specific people and specific outlets, and the stated reasons concerned interference in a US election and links to a Russian network. Beyond that, the measures' consequences for the individuals and outlets concerned were not set out on 11 January 2021.
