The UK, along with Canada, have imposed sanctions on 6 Belarusian officials and 3 entities.
According to the UK government’s statement, sanctions were imposed “in an immediate response to rigged presidential election in Belarus.”
The current head of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, was re-elected for a seventh presidential term on January 26th, according to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission of the Republic. 86.82% of Belarusians voted for the current president of the country, while 3.6% voted against all candidates. The final turnout at the elections was 85.7%.
At the same time, the British government cites statistics according to which more than 1,250 political prisoners are imprisoned in Belarus, including human rights defenders, journalists, political opponents, religious leaders and trade unionists.
These officials and entities have been added to the UK sanctions list:
- Igor Vasilyevich Karpenko — Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Belarus.
- Viktor Aleksandrovich Dubrovka – head of correctional colony No. 11, Volkovysk
- Pavel Ivanovich Kakazakov – head of prison No. 1, Grodno.
- Andrey Mikhailovich Tsedrik – Head of the pre-trial detention center (SIZO) No. 1 of Minsk.
- Andrey Valeryevich Ananenko – head of GUBOPiK, one of the main security forces responsible for political persecution in Belarus.
- Mikhail Petrovich Bedunkevich – Deputy head of GUBOPiK.
- ALEVKURP OJSC is an enterprise specializing in the production of radar and weapon control systems. The latest development of the company is the Klen radar station, which is designed to detect and recognize moving ground and low-altitude aerial targets (a person, a group of people, vehicles and armored vehicles, unmanned and manned aircraft).
- JSC “Plant “Legmash” is an enterprise for the production of ammunition for the defense complex of Belarus.
- KB Unmanned Helicopters (UAVHeli) is a Belarusian developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Over the past 5 years, the company has developed unmanned helicopters with take-off weights from 150 kg to 2500 kg. At least one of these UAVs uses an integrated engine. According to the company, the FALCON UAV is an aircraft powered by a Rolls-Royce 250-C20 gas turbine engine powered by aviation kerosene.
