US Expands Sanctions On Russia’s FSB For “Holding Americans Hostage”

The Biden administration has taken initial action in response to Russia’s detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been in custody since his arrest March 29 in the city of Yekaterinburg on espionage charges. The end of this week marks one month since he’s been imprisoned.

New sanctions have been imposed on Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) for taking Americans “hostage”, with a senior admin official telling Axios, “We do think it’s significant that the first round of sanctions are being announced specifically for this type of behavior, because we’re really concerned about this type of behavior.”

The sanctions are intended to deter and punish those who hold Americans hostage, officials said. Gershkovich as well as Paul Whelan have been declared “unlawfully detained”. 

However, the FSB is already under sanctions, thus these new measures are likely more targeted or an expansion after the initial wave. 

Simultaneously on Thursday more sanctions were also unveiled for the intelligence arm of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and additionally four IRGC leaders, for their roles in the arrest and imprisonment of Americans. 

The US is “showing that one cannot engage in this sort of awful behavior of using human beings as pawns, as bargaining chips, without paying consequences,” according to another a senior US official.

A Moscow court this month denied a request that Gershkovich be placed under pre-trial house arrest…

A Moscow court rejected an appeal from US journalist Evan Gershkovich to be freed from pre-trial detention, meaning he will stay in a former KGB prison until at least May 29 while a spying case against him is investigated https://t.co/ODD5UMqbnb pic.twitter.com/87gJ6oQftF

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 18, 2023

It appears the US and UK coordinated dual action against Russian officials, with British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announcing sanctions the same day against five Russian officials, saying they have “utter contempt for basic human rights.”