The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, has further escalated its enforcement actions against Russian airlines, denying export privileges to all of Aeroflot, Azur Air, and UTair, not just specific aircraft.

In its April 7 order, it accused the carriers of violating US export controls that were part of a wave of sanctions imposed due to Russia’s “unwarranted aggression in Ukraine.” It argued that they were committing “ongoing export violations” of the controls on Russia the commerce department had imposed.

The three new Temporary Denial Orders (TDOs) terminate the airlines’ right to be involved in transactions subject to the Export Administration Regulations, which the bureau oversees, including exports and reexports from the United States. These TDOs have been issued for 180 days and may be renewed.

Previously, the BIS had identified ninety-nine Boeing aircraft on March 18 and then a further seventy-three jets on March 30 that it said were suspected of violating sanctions. This list included thirty-nine Aeroflot B737-800s and B777-300(ER)s; twenty-five Azur B737-900ERs, B757-200s, B767-300ERs, and B777-300(ER)s; and twenty-four UTair B737-300s, B737-400s, B737-800s, and B767-200(ER)s.

The United States government believes the new round of enforcement actions will eventually force the carriers to ground most of their flights, as the export controls stop companies around the world from providing MRO, refuelling, and other services to the sanctioned aircraft.

The bureau said that since the previous restrictions had been imposed, Aeroflot had continued to operate the aircraft out of Moscow to Beijing Capital, Delhi International, Antalya, Istanbul Airport, and Dubai International, and on domestic flights between Moscow and both Petropavlovsk Yelizovo and Vladivostok.

It added that Azur Air had continued to operate to Antalya, Malé, Dubai, and Nha Trang Cam Ranh, and domestic flights between Moscow and Irkutsk International, Kaliningrad, Mineralnye Vody, Novosibirsk, and Samara Kurumoch, and that UTair had flown from Russia to Dushanbe and Khudzhand in Tajikistan, Baku Heydar Aliev International and Ganja in Azerbaijan, Yerevan, Jeddah International, and Tashkent International as well as domestic flights between Moscow and both Syktyvkar and Tashkent International.

“The images we are seeing coming out of Ukraine demonstrate Vladimir Putin’s barbarism, brutality, and blatant disregard for human life,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “With today’s action we send a clear message [...]: defy our export controls at your own peril.”

Aeroflot, Azur Air, and UTair did not immediately respond to ch-aviation’s request for comment.