US, UK sanction 11 Russians over alleged cybercrimes.
United States Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller announced in a press statement published on Thursday that the US, in coordination with the United Kingdom, is taking action against the Russian cybercrime network Trickbot group that has attacked the US government, different companies, and hospitals.
"The Department of the Treasury sanctioned 11 key actors in the network’s operation. Concurrently, the US Department of Justice unsealed indictments against nine individuals in connection with the Trickbot malware and other ransomware schemes, including seven of the individuals designated today," he explained.
Earlier this year, Britain's Foreign Office revealed that the two countries sanctioned seven Russian "cybercriminals."
Historian and political analyst, author of books on Britain, Turkiye and the South Caucasus, Dr. Patrick Walsh told Ednews that sanctions have had much less effect on Russia than was anticipated by Western leaders:
" In fact the main Western strategy apart from supporting Ukraine financially and militarily has been to provoke regime change in Moscow through the toughest sanctions regime in history. "
According to him, However, Western sanctions have proved ineffective for a number of reasons:
"Firstly, Russia is quite a self sufficient economy with a large domestic industrial base. It has a reliable energy supply. It made preparations for a campaign of this kind since 2014. Also the majority of the world has been unwilling to operate the sanctions regime because it opposes US hegemony. Not only Africa, Asia and South America but Western allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, a NATO member, and Hungary have not joined the sanctions on Russia."
Historian added that Russian oil and gas is still being imported in Europe through various third parties because the alternative would be the wrecking of Western economies and the fall of governments:
"The US has not been able to impose its will and this has made it clear to other countries that a multi-polar world is now dawning with BRICS and Eurasian development. We are at a turning point in the Ukraine conflict with the failure of Kiev's counteroffensive at heavy cost. The two big questions are: does the West have a plan B? And will Russia launch its own offensive driving toward the Dneiper? Sanctions seem almost irrelevant compared to these questions."
Ulviyya Shahin
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