The British government says it has imposed its biggest sanctions package against Russia for 18 months, targeting the military-industrial complex and “Russian-backed mercenary groups in Africa”. 

The British foreign ministry said Thursday it had sanctioned 56 bodies and individuals, hitting what it called President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine”.

Among them were 10 entities based in China, it said, accusing them of supplying machinery and components for the Russian military.

Several companies based in Turkey and Kazakhstan are also targeted for allegedly aiding the Russians in their special military operation in eastern Ukraine by supplying the Russian military with machine tools, microelectronics and components for drones.

“Today’s measures will continue to push back on the Kremlin’s corrosive foreign policy, undermining Russia’s attempts to foster instability across Africa and disrupting the supply of vital equipment for Putin’s war machine,” British Foreign Minister David Lammy said.

The sanctions also aim to disrupt Russian activities in Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic by targeting three private mercenary groups, including the Kremlin-controlled Africa Corps, and 11 individuals, it said.

Among the individuals sanctioned was Russian intelligence officer named Denis Sergeev, accused by the UK of killing former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the southern English city of Salisbury in March 2018. 

Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the Skripal deaths, calling the charges against Moscow as mere lies. 

Since the start of the Russian military campaign in Donbas in 2022, the UK and other Western countries have supplied Kiev with a non-stop flow of weapons and ammunition.

Moscow has repeatedly said that supplying weaponry to Kiev will not alter the outcome of the war, warning that the flow of Western weapons to Ukraine will only prolong the conflict.

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