Washington: Financial sanctions were put in place by the US Treasury Department on Friday against four Russian board members of Alfa Group, one of the biggest conglomerates in Russia with interests in banking, oil, and natural gas.

The sanctions are part of ongoing efforts to impose limitations on Russia's economy and its wealthiest political figures in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine last year and the ensuing war.

Petr Olegovich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan, and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev are all sanctioned by the Treasury.

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Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said, "Wealthy Russian elites should disabuse themselves of the notion that they can operate business as usual while the Kremlin wages war against the Ukrainian people. Our international coalition will keep holding those responsible for the unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine accountable.

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The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has also received sanctions. The group works in the technology industry and, according to the Treasury Department, has assisted Russia in evading other war-related sanctions.

Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom had all already imposed sanctions on the four individuals.

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Alfa Group was founded by Fridman, who is also one of Russia's richest businessmen. In March 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on the group's Alfa Bank, the largest nonstate bank in Russia, and Fridman resigned from the board to try to assist the bank in avoiding the sanctions. Aven oversaw Alfa-Bank from March 2022 until his departure from the board following EU sanctions, much like Fridman.

The individuals' access to their US assets and financial interests would be restricted by the sanctions imposed on them.