The Treasury Department announced sanctions against five Russians Wednesday, including the leader of Chechnya, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The five individuals will join 44 others on the list of those sanctioned under the Sergei Magnitsky Act, which is named for a deceased Russian whistle-blower. Putin is upset with the law, and has previously called it “a purely political, unfriendly act.”
The sanctioned individuals will have any American assets frozen and no American citizens will be able to engage in transactions with them.
The highest profile individual hit by the sanctions announced Wednesday is Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic.
“As the head of the Chechen Republic, Kadyrov oversees an administration involved in disappearances and extra-judicial killings,” the Treasury Department said in a statement. “One of Kadyrov’s political opponents was believed to have been murdered at Kadyrov’s direction, after making allegations of torture and ill-treatment taking place in Chechnya, including alleged torture carried out by Kadyrov personally.”
Kadyrov calls himself “Putin’s foot soldier,” and has said he is “ready to die for [Putin], to fulfill any order.”
The sanctions come amid charges from Democrats that Trump is too close with Putin.
Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said on the campaign trail that the two leaders have a “cozy bromance.”
Dem Rep Claims US Policy Has Been ‘Altered’ By Putin