Ramzan Kadyrov announced sanctions against US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in response to Washington’s latest round of sanctions against the Chechen dictator and his family.
“I declare that we will impose [on Pompeo] all the sanctions that we have in the republic, up to and including blocking his accounts. They did the same against me,” Kadyrov said.
On July 20, 2020, the United States Department of State announced its decision to sanction Kadyrov for “gross violations of human rights.” According to the official press release, Kadyrov is publicly designated under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2020 due to “extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings.