On August 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed several sanctions packages — against former MP Yurii Ivanyushchenko, the creators of the cartoon "Masha and the Bear," and dozens of companies tied to Russia's defense industry.
On August 20, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacted decisions by the National Security and Defense Council introducing new sanctions packages. The decrees target former Party of Regions MP Yurii Ivanyushchenko, the creators and distributors of the Russian animated series "Masha and the Bear," and dozens of companies and individuals tied to Russia's defense industry. Volunteers Support Ukraine follows decisions like this because economic pressure on the structures financing the war is an important part of the broader picture of resisting the aggression.
Under decree No. 746/2026, the president imposed sanctions on Yurii Ivanyushchenko, known as "Yura Yenakiyevsky" — a former close associate of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. According to Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which had already flagged the case to the National Security and Defense Council and the Security Service earlier this year, the investigation found persistent financial ties between Ivanyushchenko and Russia: companies linked to him keep operating in temporarily occupied Crimea and paying taxes into the Russian budget, and he has visited Russia repeatedly since the start of the full-scale invasion. The sanctions include asset freezes, a full halt on trade operations, bans on transit, flights and transport through Ukrainian territory, and the stripping of state awards.
A separate decree sanctions five Russian citizens — Dmitry Loveiko, Oleg Kuzovkov, Nataliya Grishayeva, Marina Kuzmina and Igor Derkach — along with four organizations involved in creating and distributing the animated series "Masha and the Bear," including the Animaccord studio. According to the Ukrainian side, the series contains pro-Russian narratives disguised as children's content: in one episode Masha appears in a tank crew helmet, in another in a cap resembling an NKVD uniform. Deputy Prime Minister Tetyana Berezhna said the sanctions give legal grounds to block the content in Ukraine and to ask Netflix and YouTube to restrict its monetization and distribution. The Animaccord studio has called the accusations false.
The same day, Zelensky signed another package of restrictions, this time against companies and individuals tied to weapons production for Russia: 28 Russian citizens, 36 Russian companies and one Chinese firm were placed under sanctions. The president said work on further sanctions packages would continue through August and September, and Ukrainian diplomats have been instructed to push for equivalent restrictions in key jurisdictions worldwide.
Every new sanctions package is another brick in the wall of economic isolation around the regime financing the war against Ukraine. NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine keeps helping people affected by the war in whatever way its available resources allow, and views pressure on the sources of the aggression's funding as being just as important as direct humanitarian aid.
