US imposes sanctions on four Russians linked to Alfa Group financial conglomerate

(Patria) - The United States has imposed new sanctions on four Russians linked to the Alfa Group financial and investment conglomerate and a Russian business association, targeting Moscow's elite over the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

The Treasury Department said it was targeting four individuals who served on Alfa's supervisory board - Petr Olegivich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan, and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev.

Sanctions were also imposed on the Russian Employers' Union and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

"The wealthy Russian elites should be broken of the idea that they can do business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.

Commenting on the new sanctions, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said they were part of a "failed restrictive policy" and that the White House "cannot destroy our economy and undermine technological sovereignty".