Imposing Sanctions and Visa Restrictions on Individuals and Entities to Promote Accountability for Forced Transfer and Deportation of Children During Russia’s Illegal War Against Ukraine

Today, on Ukrainian Independence Day, the Department of State is imposing sanctions and pursuing visa restrictions to promote accountability for individuals and entities connected to forcible transfer and deportation of Ukraine’s children.  Some targets are being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024 , which authorizes sanctions with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation, while others are subject to a visa restriction policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the Secretary of State to restrict visa issuance to Russian Federation military officials and Russia-backed or Russia-installed purported authorities who have been involved in human rights abuses, violations of international humanitarian law, or public corruption in Ukraine.  The United States will continue to hold Russia to account for its illegal war against Ukraine.

FINANCIAL SANCTIONS – HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE AND FORCED RE-EDUCATION

The Department is designating the below individuals and entity that have reportedly played a role in forcibly deporting Ukrainian children from Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia, and/or transferring Ukrainian children within Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine.  Children are the most innocent victims of war:  we have not forgotten Ukraine’s children.  These designations underscore our commitment to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and advancing accountability for the Russian individuals and entities as well as Russian proxy authorities involved in these atrocities.

The following individuals are being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O. 14024 for being or having been leaders, officials, senior executive officers, or members of the board of directors of the Government of the Russian Federation:

• GALINA ANATOLEVNA PYATYKH is the advisor to the Governor of Belgorod and Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Belgorod region and has been involved in facilitation of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and their adoption by Russian families.
• IRINA ANATOLYEVNA AGEEVA is the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Kaluga region and has been involved in facilitation of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and their adoption by Russian families.
• IRINA ALEKSANDROVNA CHERKASOVA is the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Rostov region and has been involved in facilitation of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and their adoption by Russian families.
• MANSUR MUSSAEVICH SOLTAEV (SOLTAEV) is the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Chechen Republic and is reportedly associated with human rights violations and abuses and the suppression of protests against the Russian mobilization of troops. Additionally, Soltaev has been involved in facilitation of the transfer of civilians of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic”, to include the deportation of Ukrainian children to camps in the Chechen Republic.
• MUSLIM MAGOMEDOVICH KHUCHIEV is the Chairman of the government of the Chechen Republic and has been involved in facilitation of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia and their adoption by Russian families.

The following entity is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(ii)(F) of E.O. 14024 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, activities that undermine the peace, security, political stability, or territorial integrity of the United States, its allies, or its partners, for or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation:

• FEDERAL STATE BUDGETARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN CENTER ARTEK (ARTEK) is a Government of Russia-owned “summer camp” located in Russia-occupied Crimea that has received Ukrainian children who are subsequently placed in extensive “patriotic” re-education programs and are prevented from returning to their families.

The following individual is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(C) of E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of Artek, an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked:

• KONSTANTIN ALBERTOVICH FEDORENKO is the director of Artek.

The Department is designating the following individuals and entity that have been involved in the transfer of children from Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia, including youth camps in Russia, and Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(ii)(F) of E.O. 14024, the following individuals and entity are being designated for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, activities that undermine the peace, security, political stability, or territorial integrity of the United States, its allies, or its partners, for or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation:

• ZAMID ALIEVICH CHALAEV is a special police battalion commander in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs who took part in the storming of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during the siege of Mariupol and was involved in the transfer of Ukrainian children to camps in the Chechen Republic.
• OLENA OLEKSANDRIVNA SHAPUROVA is the Russia-appointed, so-called “Minister of Education and Science” in Russia-controlled portions of the Zaporizhzhia region in Ukraine and has implemented pro-Russia educational curriculums in schools in these areas threatening to remove children from Ukrainian families if they do not attend pro-Russia schools.
• AKHMAT KADYROV FOUNDATION (AKF) is used by the Kadyrov family to oversee the “re-education” of Ukrainian children in camps outside of Grozny in the Chechen Republic. AKF was also previously designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 in 2020 for being owned or controlled by Ramzan Kadyrov, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 in December 2020.  Ramzan Kadyrov was also designated pursuant to the Russia Magnitsky Act in December of 2017, and E.O. 14024 in September 2022.
• AYMANI NESIEVNA KADYROVA (AYMANI KADYROVA) is a member of the board of directors of AKF. AYMANI Kadyrova is the mother of U.S.-designated Ramzan Kadyrov and the president of AKF, who is involved in efforts to transfer children from Ukraine to military camps outside of Grozny in Chechnya.  AYMANI Kadyrova is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(C) of E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of AKF.
• VLADIMIR VLADISLAVOVICH KOVALENKO (KOVALENKO) is a member of the board of directors of the All Russian Children and Youth Patriotic Public Movement Youth Army, an entity designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 in April 2023. Youth Army is an initiative created by Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu responsible for militarizing, propagandizing, and Russifying schoolchildren in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine.  Kovalenko is the Chief of Staff of the Sevastopol Branch of Youth Army, which is responsible for organizing Russian military and patriotic camps for Ukrainian children in Crimea.  Kovalenko was designated by the European Union in June 2023 and the United Kingdom in July 2023.  Kovalenko is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(C) of E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of the All Russian Children and Youth Patriotic Public Movement Youth Army.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(ii)(F) of E.O. 14024, the following individual is being designated for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, activities that undermine the peace, security, political stability, or territorial integrity of the United States, its allies, or its partners, for or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation:

• VLADIMIR DMITRIEVICH NECHAEV is the Russia-appointed head of Sevastopol State University in Crimea, overseeing a Russian cultural, historical, and patriotic reeducation program for Ukrainian children transported from the Luhansk region to Crimea.

FINANCIAL SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, and in accordance with E.O. 14024, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  Additionally, all individuals or entities that have ownership, either directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.  All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC or exempt.  These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

IMPOSING VISA RESTRICTIONS ON RUSSIA-INSTALLED PURPORTED AUTHORITIES

Additionally, the Department of State is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on three Russia-installed purported officials for their involvement in human rights abuses of Ukrainian civilian minors, in connection with the deportation, transfer, and confinement of Ukraine’s children by Russian Federation and Russia-backed authorities.

This action is taken under the Immigration and Nationality Act 212(a)(3)(C) visa policy approved by Secretary Blinken in May 2022 to restrict visa issuance to Russian Federation military officials and Russia-backed or Russia-installed purported authorities who are believed to have been involved in human rights abuses, violations of international humanitarian law, or public corruption in Ukraine, and immediate family members of such individuals, as appropriate.

Two of the three individuals were found to be involved in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children from the Russia-occupied Kherson Region to Crimea.  In most cases, the Ukrainian minors were taken and kept in camps in Russia-occupied territory.  The third individual was involved in the ill-treatment of Ukrainian children in camps in Crimea, where they were subjected to physical abuse and confinement.