Sanctions on the people who build Iskanders and Zircons: Ukraine targets the missile chain's engineers

What the president signed

On Sunday, 11 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed decrees No. 1035/2026, 1036/2026 and 1037/2026, putting into force decisions of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) on new personal sanctions. They cover three groups: makers of Russian ballistic missiles, intermediaries helping Moscow evade financial restrictions, and people acting in Russia’s interests in the temporarily occupied territories.

List one: 70 people in the missile chain

The first list names 70 Russians involved in producing Iskander-M and Zircon ballistic missiles, which Russia uses in mass attacks on Ukrainian cities. These are not companies but specific employees — engineers, technologists and production managers.

They include staff of the Votkinsk Plant, the Bakhirev Machine-Building Institute, Radar MMS, Granit-Electron, Anozit, Aviatek, Metafrax Chemicals, Altai, Nevinnomyssk Azot, Azot, the Salyut, Strela, VNIIR-Progress, Mashinostroitel, Avangard, Sverdlov and Morozov plants, the Voskresensk Aggregate Plant, and the Polyus and Submicron research institutes.

All of these enterprises are already under Ukrainian sanctions, and some are also restricted by the US, the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, Canada and New Zealand.

“The enterprises that make Iskanders and Zircons have long been under sanctions by Ukraine and most partners. But missiles are assembled by specific people… Now we are adding them to the sanctions list too — 70 key workers of the missile chain, from chemical plants supplying fuel and explosive components to the assembly shops in Votkinsk,” said Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the president’s adviser and commissioner for sanctions policy. In his words, “responsibility is personal, and it will not go away”.

The President’s Office added that Ukraine will work with partners to align sanctions not only against the enterprises but also against their key employees.

List two: crypto and shadow banking

The second package covers 28 individuals and 27 legal entities that help Russia circumvent financial sanctions. They include operators of crypto exchanges and cryptocurrency exchange services, their managers and owners, as well as managers and owners of companies in the A7 shadow banking network, which openly offers tools to evade sanctions. The US had already sanctioned the A7 network.

List three: occupied territories

The third decision targets 10 individuals, 21 legal entities and two vessels. According to the President’s Office, these are collaborators as well as companies providing internet and TV services, carrying out geological exploration, and producing electronics and metal products in the occupied territories.

Why now

The President’s Office linked the new package to the scale of attacks: in the past week alone Russia killed 153 people in Ukraine and injured 723, using about 1,450 aerial bombs, more than 1,640 attack drones and 75 missiles of various types, including ballistic ones. Personal sanctions on engineers are meant to make travel, financial transactions and work with foreign partners harder for them — provided allies join the Ukrainian list.