Ukraine imposes sanctions against 121 Russian commanders and priests of the Russian Orthodox Church

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees imposing sanctions against 121 Russian commanders and 9 religious figures of the Russian Federation involved in the aggression against Ukraine.

The corresponding decrees No. 303/2026 and 304/2026 have been published on the president’s website.

Sanctions were applied to commanders of long-range aviation units, the Russian Navy, as well as missile and artillery units that carry out strikes on Ukraine with Kalibr cruise missiles and Iskander-M ballistic missiles.

According to Vladyslav Vlasyuk, the presidential advisor on sanctions policy, Ukrainian special services were able to identify for the first time more than 100 people who directly give orders and carry out missile launches.

“This is one of the first cases where it was possible to clearly identify the specific perpetrators of the missile attacks. These are ordinary terrorists who need to be sanctioned in all jurisdictions,” he noted.

Separately, sanctions were imposed against 9 representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and related structures. According to the authorities, they publicly support Russian aggression, call for violence against Ukrainians, and use religion for propaganda.

Ukraine will share information about these sanctions packages with international partners to synchronize restrictions in their jurisdictions.

It was previously reported that the relaxation of US sanctions against Russia expired a few days ago, so restrictions on Russian oil have come into effect again.

As a reminder, the International Aquatics Federation allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete without restrictions – with national symbols and on equal terms with other countries.