The task force has blocked financial assets and seized luxury yachts, high-end real estate and even priceless art, with US officials recovering a possible Fabergé egg from one Russian oligarch's seized yacht last summer.Ī US Treasury official told CNN that REPO also provides the governments involved a valuable and streamlined mechanism to apply many of the same tools and best practices for the broader effort to crack down on sanctions evasion. Identifying sanctions evasion: The task force, which was formed last March, is also taking further steps to crack down on sanctions evasion as the US and its allies work to seal the cracks in a sanctions regime that has weakened but not crippled the Russian economy.įollowing Thursday's meeting, REPO also issued a joint global advisory to help the private sector spot and prevent common sanctions evasion methods, like using family members to maintain access to sanctioned assets, creating complex ownership structures and using third-party jurisdictions and false trade information to ship controlled goods, including those that support the Kremlin's war machine. "REPO will continue to identify, locate, and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russians, with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of the funds it needs to fight its illegal war," it continued. "REPO will redouble efforts to hold Russia accountable for its unjust war, countering Russian efforts to undermine, circumvent, or evade REPO's collective sanctions," according to a joint statement released following the meeting and obtained first by CNN. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense issued a statement likening the Kremlin's narrative to Nazi propaganda that sought to justify attacks on British civilians during WWII.ĬNN's Olga Voitovych, Vasco Cotovio, Nathan Hodge and Rob Picheta contributed to this post. Ukraine rejects Russia's narrative: Kyiv responded dismissively to Moscow's claim the overnight assault on "peaceful cities and villages of Ukraine" was retaliatory. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said the agency was carrying out operations following “armed Ukrainian nationalists who violated the state border.” Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a "terrorist attack." A local official said two civilians were killed.Īn adviser in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the alleged raid was either a Russian provocation or the work of local partisans taking a stand against the Kremlin, denying any Ukrainian involvement.ĬNN cannot independently verify the Russian claims, and local media have not carried any images of the supposed incidents, any type of confrontation or an alleged raid reported by Russian authorities. Here's what happened in Bryansk: Russian security officials claimed a small Ukrainian armed group had crossed the Russian border last week into the southern Bryansk region. At least 11 people were killed across Ukraine in the strikes, according to regional authorities. Ukrainian authorities said Russia fired 81 missiles into multiple Ukrainian regions, including the nation’s capital overnight into Thursday. "Unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed, the transfer of reserves and railway transportation of foreign weapons was disrupted, and production facilities for the repair of military equipment and the production of ammunition were disabled," the ministry said in the statement.
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