The U.S. has sanctioned the Russian Central Election Commission and its 15 members including chairwoman Ella Pamfilova, according to a U.S. Treasury statement on Friday.
The designations have been made because, "In September 2022, Russia’s CEC helped oversee and monitor sham referendums held in areas of Russia-controlled Ukraine that were rife with incidents of clear voter coercion and intimidation," according to the statement.
According to the U.S., "For years, Russia’s CEC has touted as clean and transparent elections in Russia that have been riddled with irregularities and credible accusations that the Kremlin has carefully managed the results."
The Treasury said Pamfilova and CEC member Nikolay Levichev had previously been sanctioned by Canada, the European Union, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. CEC Deputy Chairman Nikolay Bulaev has previously been sanctioned by the EU, Switzerland, and the UK, the US agency said.
Sanctions were also levied on presidential administration officials Oleg Nesterov and Yevgeny Kim.
The Treasury also sanctioned Alexey Muratov, a deputy secretary of a United Russia party office and the head of the central executive committee of the civil group called the Donetsk Republic; and Marina Sereda, a Russian national.
