Russia knows sanctions. In 2009, the death of Moscow anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in custody motivated Bill Browder, an entrepreneur who used to work in Russia and employ him, to lobby the US government to introduce sanctions against Russia.
US sanctions were duly applied to 18 people in 2013 who had been directly related to Magnitsky’s demise or the tax fraud investigation that led to his imprisonment. They were not allowed to hold bank accounts in the US or enter the country. In response, Russia forbade foreigners from adopting Russian orphans. Later, the US sanctions were expanded to other individuals involved with human rights violations, while other countries such as the UK introduced similar rules.
When Russian forces entered Crimea in 2014, it led to sanctions on multiple people. These were not just aimed at individuals directly engaged in human rights violations, but also those who were organising the violations. This went as high up as oil executive Igor Sechin, a person in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, clearly indicating who would be targeted next.
