Earlier this year, a small drone flew over a Belarusian airfield, perched atop a Russian warplane, and blew up. The attack put out of action one of Russia’s last few A-50 radar aircraft, which helped hurl ballistic missiles towards Ukraine. Now Russia seems unable to replace the aircraft, because foreign suppliers don’t want to deal with the Kremlin. Sanctions are to be thanked for that.
The harder that sanctions bite Russia, the more it tries to dodge them. The Kremlin’s evasion networks now span the globe, evading the long arm of American law. Faced with widespread evasion, Washington ought to admit that government enforcement can pierce only so far into the shadowy world of Russian sanctions-dodging. Instead of relying solely on traditional enforcement tools, it should leverage the power of whistleblowers. Thankfully, there is an easy way forward: Expand Rewards for Justice, a long-standing State Department program that gives cash for tip-offs.
American Sanctions on Russia
The United States has imposed more than 2,700 sanctions on pro-Russian entities, ships, planes, and people. These measures have halted assembly lines at key defense plants, slashed Russia’s oil profits, and tanked its financial sector. Yet a global industry of sanctions-busters threatens to put these successes at risk. The Commerce, Justice, and Treasury Departments have responded by pushing the bounds of public-private cooperation to implement unprecedented sanctions and export controls against a...
Over the last year, beyond traditional healthcare and federal procurement matters, the government has pursued federal False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and enforcement across high-risk areas, i...