The State Department published a sanctions actions notice in the Federal Register identifying three parties sanctioned under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act of 2022. Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined on February 24, 2026 that Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk, Matrix LLC and Special Technology Services LLC FZ met the Act’s criteria, and selected sanctions including blocking of property, a ban on loans from US financial institutions, foreign exchange and banking transaction prohibitions, and a ban on investment in the sanctioned persons’ equity or debt.
The notice identifies Zelenyuk, a Russian national born in St Petersburg in 1994 and also known by the aliases Mortenoir and Srgsrg111, as a foreign person who knowingly engaged in or benefited from significant theft of trade secrets of US persons, likely to result in or materially contributing to a significant threat to US national security, foreign policy or economic health. Matrix LLC, a St Petersburg company established in September 2021 and also known as Operation Zero or OpZero, was identified on the same basis. Special Technology Services LLC FZ, based at Meydan in Dubai and established in December 2024, was identified as owned or controlled by, or acting on behalf of, Zelenyuk.
The distinction that matters is between designation and publication. The sanctions have been in force since February; the November 2 notice is the formal public instrument, filed on October 30, that records the determinations, the statutory sections relied on and the identifiers, including addresses, tax numbers and aliases, that banks and exporters use for screening. It creates no new programme and extends no existing one.