The United States has banned a Chinese company from providing satellite images of Ukraine to Russia for allegedly helping the Wagner Group wage war.
The Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute is among the 16 institutions sanctioned by the Treasury Department.
The firm, also known as Spacy China, has offices in Beijing and Luxembourg.
Wagner supplies thousands of fighters to Russia in the Ukraine war.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement Thursday that Spacety China provided Russia-based technology firm Terra Tech with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images of locations in Ukraine.
“These images were collected to enable Wagner’s combat operations in Ukraine,” it said. The department has also approved Spacety’s Luxembourg-based subsidiary.
Under the sanctions, no assets or interests in the United States may be transferred, paid or exported to the targeted entities.
The space chain has not yet reacted to the move.
China, a close ally of Russia, has tried to present itself as a neutral side regarding the Ukraine war. He has been criticized by the US and its allies for refusing to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
On its website, Spacety China describes itself as a “foundation” in providing commercial SAR technology and says it will make “accessible and affordable SAR imagery of every point on Earth” to customers around the world. “Wants to make.”
SAR is a type of radar technology that can provide high-resolution images using small antennas.
According to the company’s website, its chief executive officer Yang Feng sits on a panel of experts from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
The site also lists a number of working partners, including state-owned enterprises China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, as well as the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
