President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees implementing the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to impose sanctions against Russian commanders involved in missile attacks against Ukraine, as well as against Russian religious figures who justify Russian aggression.
Points of attention
- President Zelenskyy implements sanctions against 130 Russian military commanders and religious figures for their involvement in missile attacks and spreading Russian propaganda.
- The sanctioned individuals include those responsible for missile strikes on Ukrainian territories, targeting locations such as hospitals, shopping malls, and energy infrastructure facilities.
Zelenskyy adopted new sanctions against Russia
This is stated on the OPU website.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees implementing the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to impose sanctions against Russian commanders involved in missile attacks against Ukraine, as well as Russian religious figures who justify Russian aggression and spread Russian propaganda.
The OPU specifies that the first sanctions list includes 121 occupiers involved in launching massive missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine. In particular, these are commanders of long-range aviation units of the Aerospace Forces.
In total, since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Russia has used over 4,100 air-launched cruise missiles and aeroballistic missiles. These units were the ones that struck the Okhmatdyt children's hospital on July 8, 2024, a high-rise building in Ternopil on November 19, 2025, the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk on June 27, 2022, and energy and transport infrastructure facilities in various regions of Ukraine.
The list also included naval commanders who shelled Ukraine from surface ships and submarines carrying Kalibr cruise missiles.
In total, Russia has used more than 1,500 missiles of this type in 160 attacks on Ukrainian cities and communities. The commanders on this list are involved in strikes on Kyiv CHP plants, energy infrastructure facilities in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Mykolaiv and Odessa regions. Among them, in particular, is one of the commanders of the 30th surface ship division, which provided combat support for the frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen.
Also subject to sanctions are commanders of missile and artillery units of the ground forces, who carried out strikes using ground-based cruise missiles and Iskander-M ballistic missiles.
In total, the Russians have attacked Ukraine more than 1,100 times using missiles of this type. It was the commanders of these units who organized and coordinated the strikes on the central part of Sumy on April 13, 2025, where a Russian missile killed 25 people, on the center of Chernihiv on April 17, 2024, where a Russian attack killed 18 people, and on the village of Groza in the Kharkiv region, where 59 people died.
Presidential Advisor and Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasyuk emphasized that this is one of the first cases when Ukrainian special services managed to clearly identify more than 100 specific individuals who directly give orders and launch missiles against Ukraine.
They are ordinary terrorists who should be sanctioned in all jurisdictions.
The package regarding religious figures includes nine individuals who have publicly called for the killing of Ukrainians, openly support Russian aggression against Ukraine, and use religion to propagate and justify Russia's invasion of our country. These are representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and its affiliated structures.
The OP emphasized that Ukraine will provide all necessary information regarding these two sanctions packages to partners to synchronize sanctions in their jurisdictions.
The relevant presidential decrees are posted on the OP website:
No. 303/2026 “On the Decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine of April 9, 2026 “On the Application of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)”, which lists Russian commanders,
No. 304/2026 “On the Decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine of April 9, 2026 “On the Application of Personal Special Economic and Other Restrictive Measures (Sanctions)” against Religious Figures Who Justified Russia's Aggression.”
