Zelenskyy imposes sanctions on over 120 Russian commanders and religious propagandists

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has enacted decisions of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) to impose sanctions on Russian commanders involved in missile strikes against Ukraine, as well as Russian religious figures who justify Russia's aggression and spread propaganda.

Source: Zelenskyy's press service

Details: The first sanctions list includes 121 individuals involved in carrying out large-scale missile strikes on Ukrainian territory. In particular, these are commanders of long-range aviation units of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

It is reported that since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has used more than 4,100 air-launched cruise missiles and aeroballistic missiles.

These units carried out strikes on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital on 8 July 2024, a high-rise building in Ternopil on 19 November 2025, the Amstor shopping centre in Kremenchuk on 27 June 2022, as well as energy and transport infrastructure facilities across various oblasts of Ukraine.

Sanctions have also been imposed on commanders of the Russian Navy who launched strikes on Ukraine from surface ships and submarines equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles.

In total, Russia has used more than 1,500 missiles of this type in 160 attacks on Ukrainian cities and hromadas. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]

Commanders on this list were involved in strikes on Kyiv's thermal power plants, as well as energy infrastructure facilities in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts. Among them is a commander of the 30th Surface Ship Division, who ensured the combat readiness of the Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen frigates.

Additionally, sanctions were imposed on commanders of missile and artillery units of the ground forces, which carried out strikes using ground-launched cruise missiles and Iskander-M ballistic missiles. In total, Russia has attacked Ukraine more than 1,100 times using these systems.

Commanders of these units organised and coordinated strikes on central Sumy on 13 April 2025, where a Russian missile killed 25 people; on central Chernihiv on 17 April 2024, where 18 people were killed; and on the village of Hroza in Kharkiv Oblast, where 59 people were killed.

"This is one of the first cases where our special services have managed to clearly identify more than 100 specific individuals who directly give orders and carry out missile launches against Ukraine. They are ordinary terrorists who should be sanctioned in all jurisdictions," said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy.

The sanctions package concerning religious figures includes nine individuals who have publicly called for the killing of Ukrainians, openly support Russia's aggression against Ukraine, use religion for propaganda and justify the invasion. These are representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and affiliated structures.

All necessary information on these two sanctions packages will be shared with partners to synchronise sanctions across their jurisdictions.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!