Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking action against 19 individuals, 14 entities, and one aircraft pursuant to Belarus-related Executive Order (E.O.) 14038, Paralel.Az reports citing U.S. Treasury Dept website.

This action targets persons involved in supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine through military resource production and transshipment of goods to Russia, sanctions evasion on behalf of Belarusian defense entities, and revenue generation for Belarusian oligarchs in Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s inner circle. OFAC is concurrently designating five of these targets—three individuals and two entities—pursuant to Russia-related E.O. 14024.

Lukashenka’s support for Russia’s indefensible war against Ukraine comes at a high cost for Belarus. Lukashenka has traded his country’s autonomy and standing in the international community for his and his cronies’ own financial and political benefits. Today’s action reinforces the United States’ commitment to holding the Lukashenka regime accountable for its attacks on the Belarusian democratic movement and its flagrant exploitation of the Belarusian people.

“As Belarus marks another year under Lukashenka’s rule, the regime’s blatantly corrupt, destabilizing, and anti-democratic acts—along with its continued support for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine—have only further ostracized Belarus from the global community,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. “The United States, in coordination with our allies and partners, remains committed to holding the regime and its key facilitators accountable.”

In the wake of the fraudulent August 2020 Belarusian Presidential election, Lukashenka resorted to brutal crackdowns on peaceful protesters, democratic organizations, and journalists in order to illegitimately retain power. Since then, Lukashenka’s actions have eroded Belarusian civil society and enabled Lukashenka, his family, and his inner circle to enrich themselves at the expense of Belarus’s citizens and sovereignty. The Lukashenka regime continues to support Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine by hosting Russian military bases and allowing Russian forces to use Belarus as a staging point for military operations.

Today’s designations are amplified by actions undertaken by the United States’ partners in the European Union (EU)—who targeted Belarusian authorities involved in human rights abuses earlier this week—and Canada and the United Kingdom, who today also announced additional sanctions on the Lukashenka regime. Together, these actions signal the international community’s continuing solidarity with the Belarusian people in their struggle for a free, democratic, and sovereign Belarus.

The Department of State also took steps to impose visa restrictions on 19 regime officials and their affiliates for their involvement in undermining democracy in Belarus, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 8015.