UK bans ‘every item Russia has been found using on the battlefield’

LONDON (AA) – On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Ukraine war, Britain said that it has banned the export of “every item Russia has been found using on the battlefield to date.”

The new package of “internationally coordinated sanctions and trade measures” was announced by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

The ban includes “hundreds of goods, which include aircraft parts, radio equipment and electronic components that can be used by the Russian military industrial complex, including in the production of UAVs,” according to a statement by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

It said that the military intelligence suggested “a shortage of components in Russia as a result of sanctions is already likely affecting their ability to produce equipment for export, such as armoured vehicles, attack helicopters and air defence systems.”

“As a result, it is highly likely that Russia’s role as a reliable arms exporter and their military-industrial complex are being undermined by international sanctions. Today’s measures will damage them further, undermining Putin’s military machine which is already having to mobilise soviet-era tanks and harvest freezers for low-grade chips.

“Ukrainians are turning the tide on Russia, but they cannot do it alone. That is why we must do more to help Ukraine win,” Cleverly said.

He added: “Today we are sanctioning the elites who run Putin’s key industries and committing to prohibit the export to Russia of every item Russia has been found using on the battlefield.”

Britain also sanctioned “senior executives at Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom, plus executives from Russia’s two largest defence companies, four banks, and other Russian elites.”