- The Biden administration is reportedly preparing sanctions that target Russian companies.
- The Russian government has relied heavily on international tech, per The Wall Street Journal.
- Serbia Engineering and Sertal are among those expected to be sanctioned, it added.
The US and its allies continue to impose sanctions against entities that have ties with Russia as the Biden administration prepares further sanctions targeting Russian companies that provide goods and services for the military and intelligence services.
The Wall Street Journal reported the story on Friday.
The sanctions would be the latest under an executive order signed by President Joe Biden. The order prohibits certain transactions linked to Russian efforts to undermine and destabilize Ukraine.
Justine Walker, who leads global sanctions and risk at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, told The WSJ that these measures "can have a very big impact, which will then spread to the whole Russian economy." She added that hitting those supply chains has a "pretty immediate effect."
The US Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The new sanctions would prevent Russia from acquiring goods and services that have both civil and military purposes, according to US officials and documents reviewed by The WSJ.
The companies expected to be targeted include Serniya Engineering and equipment maker Sertal, which were added to a US list banning exports of sensitive technologies to them.
The US also will impose sanctions on what it describes as four front companies used by the two firms to facilitate their procurement for the military, per the news report.
Walker told The WSJ that the measures are designed to prevent Russia from importing critical technologies, weakening both its military's capabilities and the larger economy.
As the US and its allies continue to find ways to crack down on Russia's elite in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, Insider's Kate Duffy previously reported on the reasons that EU sanctions targeted 15 oligarchs.
Meanwhile, companies are leaving Belarus, one of Russia's closest allies, because the country supports Putin's invasion of Ukraine.