London expands list of anti-Russian sanctions - UK Foreign Office

LONDON. May 26 (Interfax) - United Kingdom authorities on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 18 individuals and companies Russia supposedly uses to bypass the sanctions imposed by London earlier.

"Crypto and illicit finance networks exploited by Russia to circumvent UK sanctions are being targeted today," a Foreign Office statement said.

The new sanctions also target the A7 network, "which actively exploits Kyrgyzstan's financial systems to channel funds" into the Russian economy, the statement said.

"If the Kremlin thinks it can evade our sanctions by hiding behind crypto networks and shadow financial systems, it is gravely mistaken," Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.

"Today's package of 18 designations directly targets Russia's illicit financial infrastructure used to move funds, procure goods," the statement said.

The A7 network is a system "designed to bypass Western sanctions, finance military procurement, and process funds from the sale of oil" to fund a military economy, it said

"New measures also hit key A7-linked individuals. [...] using a Kyrgyz bank suspected of facilitating payments for the network, alongside a major global cryptocurrency exchange. We are also targeting 3 Georgian companies operating Russia focused exchanges seeking to evade sanctions," the statement said.