U.S. imposes sanctions on Ukrainians linked to Giuliani

The Trump administration imposed sanctions Monday against seven Ukrainians — including two who assisted President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani — for being part of what it called “a Russia-linked foreign influence network” that spread “fraudulent and unsubstantiated allegations” about Presidentelect Joe Biden during the 2020 campaign.

Giuliani relied on two of the Ukrainians who were sanctioned — Andrii Telizhenko and Kostiantyn H. Kulyk — as he sought to gather damaging information and force government investigations into Biden and his son Hunter related to Ukraine. That effort, which had the president’s backing, led to Trump’s impeachment in 2019 by the House of Representatives.

The sanctions announced Monday stemmed from the Ukrainians’ work with Andriy Derkach, a Ukrainian Parliament member who was sanctioned by the Treasury Department last year and accused of being a Russian agent and spreading disinformation about Joe Biden. Derkach had met with Giuliani in 2019.

The Ukrainians sanctioned Monday were accused in a statement released by the Treasury Department of helping Derkach “spread misleading and unsubstantiated allegations that current and former U.S. officials engaged in corruption, money laundering and unlawful political influence in Ukraine.”

The targets of the sanctions also included four media companies that the Treasury Department said are affiliated with Derkach and were involved in his efforts to spread disinformation.

The sanctions are the latest in a series of steps taken by the Treasury Department over the past few years to punish people and groups that it accused of involvement in Russialinked election interference, even as Trump, an intended beneficiary of the interference, has continued to downplay Russia’s role.

Giuliani did not respond to a request for comments Monday.