Volodymyr Zelensky imposed personal sanctions against Oleksiy Arestovych, former advisor to the Ukrainian President’s Office, who now lives outside of Ukraine.
The move came as part of a sanctions package against a list of 76 individuals and 81 companies, compiled by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.
Arestovych, who was one of Zelensky’s most outspoken allies at the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, resigned from his position in January 2023 after suggesting that a Russian missile that destroyed an apartment building in Dnipro may have been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
In Ukraine, Arestovych is facing two criminal cases — one for promoting violence (over comments he made about women in a video) and another for perjury (stemming from a dispute with a member of parliament over the Russian language).
In Russia, he’s been charged with publicly inciting terrorism and spreading “disinformation” about the Russian military. The Russian authorities have also placed him on their list of “terrorists and extremists” and issued a warrant for his arrest.
In April 2025, Arestovych criticized the Ukrainian authorities for using sanctions against journalists and businessmen, arguing they had effectively become a tool for cracking down on political opponents.
