Russia extends lead over Iran, North Korea in sanctions hall of shame

Russia has been pounded with close to 4,000 sanctions since February 22, a day after President Vladimir Putin recognized two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states and ordered the dispatching of troops to the region, according to Castellum.AI, a global sanctions-tracking database. The sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine, which are inflicting severe pain on the Russian economy, have taken Russia s tally of penalties past 6,000. Before February 22, Russia was subject to fewer than 3,000 sanctions, most of them in response to its annexation of Crimea in 2014.