President Volodymyr Zelensky has enacted a National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) decision imposing sanctions on five enterprises of the Russian aluminum company Rusal and nine associated Russian citizens. The sanctions target Russia’s largest aluminum production sites, including the Bratsk, Sayanogorsk, and Krasnoyarsk plants. According to a report by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine (ESCU) titled “Salt of the Earth,” these facilities are the primary importers of alumina into Russia.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Between April 2024 and March 2025, these three plants imported over $2.5 billion worth of raw materials for aluminum production. In total, Rusal-affiliated structures control 93% of all Russian alumina imports. ESCU analysts stated that the aluminum produced by these facilities is supplied directly to companies operating within the Russian military-industrial complex. The material and its alloys are critical for manufacturing military aviation, missiles, armored vehicles, cable systems, and components for rocket fuel and explosives. Olena Yurchenko, ESCU director of analytics and investigations, stated that the Russian defense sector relies heavily on raw material supply chains rather than just final assembly plants. “Therefore, strategic minerals should become a separate direction of sanctions policy: restrictions must cover importers, processing enterprises, traders, logistics companies, and other key links,” Yurchenko said, adding that this approach allows for targeting the entire military-industrial complex.