Russia Rockets Past Iran to ‘World’s Most Sanctioned Nation’ Status

The United States and its European, Canadian, Australian and Japanese allies slapped Russian businesses, government officials and businesspeople with over 2,700 sanctions after Russia’s 21 February move to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics as independent states, and Moscow’s subsequent military operation in Ukraine.

The 2,778 new restrictions put on Russia by the West over the crisis in Ukraine have officially turned it into the most-heavily sanctioned nation in the world, Castellum.ai, a sanctions tracking service, has reported.

According to the service’s calculations, Russia now has a grand total of 5,532 sanctions levied against it, far above the 3,616 sanctions put in place by the West against Iran, 2,608 against Syria, 2,077 against North Korea, 651 against Venezuela, 510 against Myanmar and 208 against Cuba.

2,427 of the sanctions are against individuals such as businessmen or government officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 343 more target Russian entities – such as government departments and corporations. Six vessels and two aircraft are also affected.

Nearly 1,200 of the total sanctions put in place against Russia since the Ukraine crisis began in 2014 were levied by the US, with Canada second with 908 and Switzerland rounding out the top three with 824. The European Union has placed a total of 766 sanctions on Russia, while France separately, Australia and the UK drew up 760, 633 and 271, respectively.

Russians’ reactions to their country's newfound status ranged from horror to humour to apathy or even pride.

“If the government does not allow for an insane rise in prices on vital goods, I think the West will howl first about the need to cancel them,” one user wrote. “Well, at least we’re first in something,” another quipped. “Put it in your Guinness Book of Records,” a third joked. “We need more sanctions!” another wrote. "Where are we going get our electronics now? We don't make anything at home," one person complained. “Russia is the world’s biggest country and has the longest bridge, and now, the biggest number of sanctions. No problem, we’ll get through it,” another suggested.

The first inklings of apparent blowback to the Western sanctions strategy have already begun to make themselves felt less, than two weeks after the first restrictions were introduced. The American Automobile Association reported Tuesday that gasoline prices have hit an all-time high of over $4.17 a gallon on average. In Europe, natural gas prices briefly touched an all-time record on Monday of over $3,600 per 1,000 cubic meters – equivalent to an oil price of $600 per barrel. The European Commission announced new measures Tuesday to diversify gas supplies away from Russia toward alternative “reliable suppliers” of both LNG and pipeline gas.

In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin conceded that Russia had lost the equivalent of about $50 billion in revenues over Western sanctions over Crimea, but said European businesses had lost $240 billion as a result of Russian countersanctions during the same period, and that the US lost about $17 billion in lost earnings.

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