Four Ukrainian politicians – two MPs and two former officials- have found themselves under the scrutiny of the Biden, which followed the White House’s line that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine, that accuses them of working for Moscow.
As Western powers continued signaling to Moscow that any further aggression against Ukraine would result in punitive economic and political consequences, the US Treasury Department issued on Thursday sanctions on Ukrainian MPs Taras Kozak and Oleg Voloshyn as well as the former officials Volodymyr Oliynyk and Vladimir Sivkovich.
The all four are accused of participating in a Moscow-backed conspiracy to undermine and destabilize the Ukraine’s Western-backed government of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Explaining its decision, the Treasury Department noted that Russian intelligence services has been directed its to recruit current and former Ukrainian government officials to take over Ukraine government and the control over Ukraine’s critical infrastructure with an occupying Russian force.
In response to the US Treasury Department’s decision, Ukraine’s Opposition Platform – For Life (OPFL) party issued a statement calling the sanctions against its members an act of international political terror conducted on the orders of, as they claim, the criminal Ukrainian government.
The OPFL argues that the sanctions and what they call biased criminal cases against their representatives are directed at obstructing the lawmaking activity.
They stressed that instead of fighting oligarchs and corrupt officials in its ranks, the US – the US State Secretary Antony Blinken and US senators, in particular – and Zelensky are launching coordinated attacks on the OPFL.
According to the opposition party, these sanctions are provoked by its fight for Ukraine’s sovereignty and its independence and against the external governing Ukraine is exposed to due to the US and Zelensky’s criminal policy depriving Ukraine of sovereignty.
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