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The UK has sanctioned 12 Russian military commanders implicated in missile strikes on Ukrainian cities as well as Iranian businessmen involved in the production and supply of military drones used in the attacks.
The FCDO said Iranian-manufactured drones had played a central role in attacks on civilians, citing US information showing Iran has become one of Russia’s top military backers, sending hundreds of drones to Russia.
“Russian forces’ calculated attacks on cities and innocent civilians in Ukraine will not go unanswered,” foreign secretary James Cleverly said.
“The Iranian regime is increasingly isolated in the face of deafening calls for change from its own people and is striking sordid deals with Putin in a desperate attempt to survive.”
Mr Cleverly said among those sanctioned were Major General Robert Baranov, believed to be the commander of a unit responsible for programming and targeting Russian cruise missiles.
Meanwhile on the war front, over 50 per cent of the Donetsk region has now been captured by Mr Putin’s forces, according to an update early this morning from a Russia-backed official in Ukraine’s east.
