By KYIV. Nov 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The international working group on Russia-related sanctions, chaired by Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and former adviser to the President of the United States on national security issues, Ambassador Michael McFaul, has prepared a sanctions document with a list of information technologies (IT), which should be deprived of the criminal regime, according to the website of the President’s Office of Ukraine on Thursday.
"Despite the fact that many sanctioning countries have imposed restrictions on the sale of military components and support systems to Russia, foreign software, services, technical infrastructure, intellectual property and other less tangible objects are not yet subject to sanctions or restrictions. That is why our expert group has taken this issue into consideration and is proposing specific effective measures," Yermak said.
In his opinion, tough IT sanctions will become a serious obstacle both for the Russian military machine in its operations against Ukraine, and for Russia’s ability to use its information machine against Ukraine, the West and the Russian population.
The main recommendation of the document is a call to block the possibility for Russia to use or receive IT containing software, firmware and components manufactured by any country that has imposed sanctions.
According to the report, the occupiers rely on foreign IT to command their army, fire, reconnaissance, control the information space, attack Ukrainian cyber and civilian infrastructure and protect their own infrastructure.
"After the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russia began to requisition foreign IT and microelectronic components from consumer goods for the military. Therefore, there is no longer a difference between IT goods and services supplied to Russia for civilian use and those that are repurposed for military use against Ukraine," the group said in the press release.
It is also noted Russia supports its own technologies, however, they partially include outdated technology packages, partially modern capabilities, and such systems, when problems arise, "rely on fragile human knowledge networks. "Thus, IT staff is a critical asset for Russian government, now directly or indirectly supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. Therefore, the sale of IT and Supporting Technologies’ capabilities to any entities within Russia and their maintenance (directly or indirectly) must be immediately stopped.
The document contains an analysis of areas in respect of which sanctions should be immediately imposed, explanations of how to do this, and how the relevant technologies support the military infrastructure of Russia and military operations in Ukraine.
The document also includes recommendations to interested governments and IT companies to take immediate action to block access to IT that supports the Russian military machine and its use against Ukraine, as well as allowing Russia to conduct information and cyber warfare against Ukraine and other countries.
