On February 21, 2022, the US President Joe Biden sanctioned the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions of Ukraine as Putin had recognized those regions as the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR). Joe Biden’s administration apparently ignored the fact that the biggest part of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions has been controlled by Ukraine since 2014. As a result the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the entire Donetsk and Luhansk Regions including areas controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. Thus the United States of America recognized Donetsk and Luhansk Regions of Ukraine as DNR and LNR even without actual Russian occupation and despite fierce and mostly successful resistance of the Ukrainian army to Russian forces’ advance in the region. 

As a result of such sanctions people in Ukraine-controlled cities such as Kramatorsk and Mariupol have lost their ability to use some important online services from companies such as Google (Google Pay, Google AdSense) and international payment service Payoneer. Citizens of the Ukraine-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions are likely to experience troubles with other America-based services including money transfers for freelancers and IT companies working for international clients. Many people over there find themselves in a precarious financial situation in a country struggling in an unprovoked war with Russia. Even those who flee from the region but still have their Google accounts registered to the addresses in the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions lose their ability to earn money and use some online services. This situation makes them even more vulnerable in times of war.     

We call on Joe Biden’s administration and  the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to pay more attention to the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions of Ukraine and exclude from sanctions cities, towns and villages that have not been occupied by Russian and pro-Russian armed forces in those regions.