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Zelensky imposes sanctions against 189 Russians and founder of Georgian Airways

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President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 1 signed a decree imposing sanctions against 189 Russian nationals, two Belarusians, and Tamaz Gaiashvili, the founder of privately-owned Georgian Airways that is now flying to Russia.

Zelensky also imposed sanctions against nearly 300 companies linked to Russia and its war against Ukraine. Almost all of them are Russian companies, including Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, Russia's largest space industry company.

According to the approved proposals on the President's Office website, the sanctions are to last for 10 years.

More than a year into the full-scale war, Russia abolished its four-year-old direct flight ban with Georgia and lifted all visa requirement for Georgian nationals in May.

The controversial Russian initiative allows Georgian Airways to offer Russians transit flights via Tbilisi to other destinations – such as Paris, as many Western countries banned Russian airlines from entering their airspace.

The newly sanctioned individuals include Russia's Pavel Shatskikh, the director of the Kazan plant Elektropribor, a leading Russian aircraft enterprise, as well as Belarus' scientist Aleksei Shkadarevich, the director of LEMT Scientific and Technical Center in Minsk.

Earlier, Zelensky on May 27 signed a decree approving a proposal by the National Security and Defense Council to impose sanctions on 51 people and 220 Russian and Belarusian entities.

The May sanctions targeted a number of plants, such as the Minsk automobile and mechanical plans, the Belarusian aircraft repair plant, and the Russian Karachev "Elektrodetal" plant.

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Asami Terajima

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Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues, front-line developments, and politics. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine.

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