U.S. imposes sanctions against seven Ukrainians, four media outlets

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Jan. 11 it has
imposed sanctions against seven Ukrainian citizens and four mass media outlets
for their interference in the U.S. presidential elections. All the targets are
related to Andriy Derkach, an MP already targeted with sanctions who has been
identified by the U.S. as a Kremlin agent. The targets are all part of a
Russian network operating in Ukraine and working to influence U.S. elections,
the U.S. Treasury said. “Russian disinformation campaigns, targeting American
citizens, are a threat to our democracy,” the U.S. Treasury said.

Among those targeted are MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, a
longtime agent for billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky, who faces mounting lawsuits for
alleged money laundering in the U.S. In particular, “Derkach and Dubinsky
lobbied against the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, trying to
change its leadership and discredit it as an organization and deny their own
corrupt practices,” the U.S. Treasury said.

Also targeted is former prosecutor Kostiantyn Kulyk
and former MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who remains in hiding in Germany after
numerous political scandals. In particular, Onyshchenko gave Derkach audio
recordings of conversations between then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and
then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the U.S. Treasury said. Derkach then
broadcast these recordings – which the U.S. has alleged were doctored – at
press conferences and on the NABU Leaks YouTube channel, which was targeted by
the sanctions and has been shut down. Kulyk was among those spreading slander
against Biden, the U.S. Treasury said.

The President’s Office announced on its Telegram
channel on Jan. 13 it will take concrete steps in the nearest future to
prosecute those Ukrainians accused of interfering in the U.S. elections in November.
They will face criminal charges regardless of party affiliation, the statement
said, referring to Dubinsky, who is an MP with the pro-presidential People’s
Servant party.

Zenon Zawada: Derkach
would not have been conducting his leaks of allegedly doctored audio of Biden,
during his election campaign, without directions from the Kremlin. So this is
merely the latest episode in an ongoing proxy war between the U.S. and Russia
that is being played out on Ukrainian territory. To gain credibility for its
anti-American narratives, the Kremlin decided it would be more effective to
disseminate them from Ukrainian territory, using its Ukrainian agents.

The Zelensky administration is being pressured behind
the scenes by the U.S. to take legal action against those targeted by the
sanctions. This became apparent once the President’s Office changed its tune
from Jan. 12, when a spokesman insisted to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that
Zelensky had no obligations to react to the sanctions.

This proxy war will continue for as long as Russia has
a hostile view of the West, and as long as Ukrainians want to resist Kremlin
influence. Ukrainians have suffered much in the last six years, sacrificing not
only thousands of lives, but also economic development and investment. And the
exhaustion is showing as Ukrainians are increasingly willing
to capitulate to Russia.