Home › World › Zelensky's sanctions on oligarchs and Poroshenko
Zelensky's sanctions on oligarchs and Poroshenko
Summary
A look back at the sanctions announced on 13 February 2025 against a group of prominent Ukrainian figures, set beside other sanctions and border cases reported that week.
What did Kyiv signal on 13 February 2025 when it announced sanctions against some of the country's best-known businessmen and a former head of state? President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced measures against several oligarchs and other individuals, among them former president Petro Poroshenko, Viktor Medvedchuk, Kostyantyn Zhevaho, Ihor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov.
As reported at the time, the measures were linked to suspicion of "state treason" and of assisting a terrorist organisation. They also concerned the alleged role of those named in undermining national security through disadvantageous business deals with Russia.
Sanctions elsewhere that week
The Ukrainian move came two days after other sanctions announced on 11 February 2025. On that date Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced sanctions on a Russian bulletproof hosting services provider. The provider was allegedly ignoring law enforcement requests. Two Russians who operate the network were also targeted.
A separate border question
Also on 11 February 2025, the European Court of Human Rights said it would consider three cases involving irregular migrants who were allegedly pushed back across the border into Belarus from EU countries. The cases fall within the wider Belarus–European Union border crisis.
The three items are separate. Together they show that sanctions and legal scrutiny were being used in several settings in the same days. The reports on the Ukrainian sanctions describe the grounds as alleged ties to Russia and threats to national security.
