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- War in Ukraine
UK Sanctions 85 Russian Individuals and Entities Over Forced Deportation of Ukrainian Children
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![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
The United Kingdom has announced a new round of sanctions targeting Russian-linked individuals and organisations accused of conducting hostile influence operations abroad, including interference campaigns, propaganda activities, and the deportation and militarisation of Ukrainian children.
In a statement, released on May 11, the UK said it was “exposing and taking action against Russia’s hostile and heinous activity at every level.”
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Officials described the measures as some of the most extensive sanctions imposed to date on Russian hybrid operations, directly targeting 85 individuals and entities linked to what London calls systematic interference campaigns.
According to the UK government, 49 of those sanctioned are associated with the Social Design Agency (SDA), including writers, translators, and video producers involved in what it described as coordinated disinformation efforts. The SDA, officials said, has been funded and directed by the Kremlin to conduct influence operations aimed at undermining democratic institutions and weakening international support for Ukraine.
In its assessment, the UK also stated that the SDA has planned operations “almost certainly tasked by the Russian Presidential Administration,” including efforts to establish pro-Russian organisations in Armenia and influence political shifts in favour of Moscow-aligned figures.
Further sanctions were imposed on ANO Dialog, an entity the UK says operates under the direction of the Russian Presidential Administration and has worked alongside Russian intelligence services. The organisation is accused of participating in coordinated information warfare campaigns and of involvement in interference planning related to Armenian domestic politics.
“The UK will not stand idly by as Putin seeks to sow lies and pro-Kremlin narratives abroad. Today’s sanctions are a strong step in exposing and disrupting the depths Russia is willing to go, to interfere and undermine democracy, and destroy Ukraine’s future through the abhorrent deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children,” UK’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
According to the statement, among the entities sanctioned is the Centre for Military Sports Training and Patriotic Education of Youth, known as the “Warrior Centre,” which the UK accuses of subjecting Ukrainian children to military-style training and pro-Kremlin ideological programmes.
Sanctions also target Yulia Sergeevna Velichko, described as the Minister for Youth Policy in the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic.” She is accused of taking part in implementing state-led deportation and indoctrination policies, including facilitating the issuance of Russian passports to children from occupied territories and organising programmes promoting Russian state ideology.
Russia is intensifying efforts to militarize Ukrainian youth in temporarily occupied regions, incorporating teenagers into its propaganda machine. According to an investigation, the Kremlin’s “Young Correspondents” program recruits children to train them and promote invasion narratives.
Henichesk, a small resort town on the Sea of Azov, was one of the first settlements to come under Russian control in 2022. For a local girl named Kateryna, the occupation marked the start of a profound shift in her personal worldview and values.
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