- Programme
- Situation in Ukraine
- Designated
- Not published by this authority
- Legal basis
- Ordinance of 4 March 2022 on measures related to the situation in Ukraine (RS 946.231.176.72), Art. 15 para. 1 and 4 (Financial sanctions) and art. 29 para. 1 (Travel ban), annexe 8
- Stated grounds
- Andrey Polyakov is the Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Science “Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHMC RAS)”. Between 2014 and 2023, under Polyakov’s leadership, IHMC RAS systematically engaged in archaeological excavations across the Russian-occupied territory of Crimea. The institute has received over 20 excavation permits, so-called “open letters”, from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, which centrally oversees and authorises all such activity in Crimea in coordination with other state institutions. These excavations were conducted without the consent of Ukraine, the internationally recognised sovereign over the peninsula. Andrey Polyakov has publicly supported the Institute’s continuing role in the occupied region, stating that work in Chersonesos and other areas is ongoing and part of a broader agenda of more than 40 excavations planned for 2024. His leadership of IHMC RAS has not only enabled these illegal excavations but has also contributed to the cultural appropriation and institutional normalisation of Russian presence in Crimea. Andrey Polyakov supports the Russian Federation’s policies aimed at consolidating its occupation of Crimea. Therefore, Andrey Polyakov is supporting policies which undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
- Source
- Switzerland SECO Sanctions List
- Last confirmed
- 19 Oct 2026