OFAC reimposed sanctions on the Russia-linked crypto exchange Garantex for facilitating cybercriminals, including ransomware groups. According to the agency, since 2019 the platform has processed over $100 million in illicit transactions, including transfers of Russian funds to evade international restrictions. Sanctions were also applied to Garantex’s successor Grinex, three executives, and six affiliated companies in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
Ukraine imposed sanctions on Russian drone manufacturers using AI. A presidential decree added 39 individuals and 55 companies to the sanctions list: 43 Russian, 10 Chinese, and two Belarusian. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, explained that AI in drones “increases autonomy, accuracy, and resistance to electronic warfare, allowing them to automatically navigate, identify, and track targets even without an operator.”
Russia wants to strip Intel of its brand. The T1 holding, through its subsidiary “TS Integration,” filed a lawsuit in a Moscow court demanding the annulment of Celeron/Seleron trademarks, arguing that Intel Corporation has not used them in Russia for more than three years. Although the case was suspended due to procedural errors, Russia has repeatedly seized brands and even entire companies — and could try again. Yet such legal grabs do not work in technology development: as we noted in last week’s Monitoring, Russia is lagging a quarter of a century behind global science.
More updates — in ESCU Monitoring #31 in the attached file.
