Investing.com — The UK announced sanctions on Tuesday against 35 individuals and entities involved in supplying Russian drone factories and trafficking vulnerable migrants to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The sanctions target networks that have been recruiting foreign migrants and sending them to fight on the frontlines or work in weapons factories. This includes operations connected to Russia’s Alabuga Start programme for drone production at a previously sanctioned entity.
Russia fired over 200 drones per day into Ukraine in March 2026, marking the highest monthly total on record. The country was likely to exceed this figure for a second month in April, according to the UK government.
Among those sanctioned is Pavel Nikitin, whose company develops Russia’s VT-40 drone, a mass-produced attack drone used extensively in attacks on Ukraine. The sanctions also include individuals and entities based in Thailand and China that supply drone components and military goods to Russia.
Three individuals linked to the Russian state and involved in recruiting people to fight for Russia were sanctioned. This includes Polina Alexandrovna Azarnykh, who has facilitated the travel of individuals from Egypt, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Morocco, Syria and Yemen through Russia to Ukraine, where they are deployed to the frontline.
“The practice of exploiting vulnerable people to prop up Russia’s failing and illegal war in Ukraine is barbaric,” said Sanctions Minister Stephen Doughty.
The action marks the first use of the UK’s Global Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Persons sanctions regime to address human trafficking and the use of migration to destabilize other countries.