US Sanctions Myanmar Businessmen For Supplying Russian Weapons To Military Regime

The Biden Administration has sanctioned a group of Myanmar businessmen and their company which is accused of supplying Russian weapons to the military junta that seized control of the country in last year's coup.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three individuals and one entity connected to Burma's military regime, as per a press release issued by the Treasury Department on Thursday.

Aung Moe Myint and Hlaing Moe Myint, the owners of Dynasty International, and Myo Thitsar, the company's director, were placed on the sanctions blacklist for procuring weapons and aircraft in Belarus for the military administration, the US Treasury said.

The sanctions are against those who profit from the oppressive acts of the regime, the release said adding that its action did not target the people of Burma, who have suffered under the brutal rule of the regime for far too long.

The three individuals and their company is accused of operating in the defense sectors of Burma's economy and providing arms and other material support to Burma's military.

Justifying the sanctions, a Treasury Department release said since the February 2021 coup that overthrew Burma's democratically elected civilian government, the military has committed numerous atrocities against the people, including violent repression of political dissent, killing of over 2,300 civilians, and displacing more than 900,000 people.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the latest sanctions took aim at the Myanmar military's ties to Russia and Belarus.

"We will continue to use our sanctions authorities to target those in Burma and elsewhere supporting Russia's unlawful invasion of Ukraine, as well as Russia and Belarus' facilitation of the Burmese regime's violence against its own people," Blinken said in a statement.

Russia is among the largest suppliers of hardware to the Myanmar military and has defended the regime on the international stage.

"Today we are targeting the support networks and war profiteers that enable weapons procurement for Burma's military regime," said Brian E. Nelson, who is the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "Treasury will continue to take action to degrade the Burmese military's ability to commit brutal acts of violence against the people of Burma."

Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 to 2011 when the country began its slow transition toward democracy. However, the military continued to maintain its control over the government and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.

Blaming the civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi for corruption and other crimes, the army launched a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, and followed it with a massive crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.