Among those sanctioned is Pavel Nikitin, whose company develops the VT 40 drone, a low-cost attack drone widely used by Russian forces in Ukraine.

The UK also sanctioned three individuals linked to the Russian state for allegedly recruiting foreign nationals to fight in Ukraine on behalf of Russia.

One of them, Polina Alexandrovna Azarnykh, is accused of helping recruit and transport people from countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Morocco, Syria and Yemen through Russia into Ukraine.

According to the UK, many of these recruits were deployed to frontline combat positions with little training and under harsh conditions.

The British government said it would continue using sanctions to counter Russia’s military activities and what it described as “hybrid threats,” while maintaining support for Ukraine.

Officials noted that this marks the first use of the GIMTiPS regime to tackle human trafficking and the use of migration as a tool to destabilise other countries.

The UK government reiterated its commitment to combating modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking globally.