In a decision separate from the U.S. inquiries into Russian political interference during the 2016 presidential contest, Washington
announced on Monday, January 9, that five prominent individuals inside Russia would be sanctioned. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added their names to the roster of Specially Designated Nationals under the 2012 Magnitsky Act. That legislation provides for identification of Russians believed involved in the 2009 death of Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and other serious human rights violations, barring them from holding financial assets in the U.S. and from visiting American soil.