The European Union has added cryptocurrency exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi Global, to a sanctions package targeting Russia over its war in Ukraine.

In a Thursday decision published by the European Council, the EU amended earlier restrictive measures “in view of Russia’s actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine” and included HTX among 18 entities that provide crypto-asset services or payment services outside the Union. The entities were described as “significantly frustrating the purpose of the prohibitions” imposed against Russia. The decision was published in the EU’s Official Journal at EUR-Lex, the EU’s official database for legal acts.

Russia has faced broad international sanctions since its military invasion of Ukraine in 2022. EU officials said the bloc has repeatedly sought to identify financial institutions, credit institutions and crypto-asset or payment service providers that help maintain financial channels linked to Russia’s war effort. The inclusion of crypto service providers reflects regulators’ focus on non-bank payment rails that may be used alongside traditional financial infrastructure.

“The Union has repeatedly taken measures to identify financial institutions, credit institutions or entities providing crypto-asset services or payment services that facilitate a continued financial lifeline for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, whether by connecting to the system for transfer of financial messages of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation or by enabling the circumvention of Union restrictive measures, and to prohibit any transaction between those institutions or entities and Union operators,” EU officials said.

HTX previously told Cointelegraph that “regulatory compliance remains [its] absolute top priority” and that the exchange will “proactively monitor and strictly adhere to regulatory frameworks in all jurisdictions.”

The EU action against HTX was announced on the same day officials said they would prohibit Belarusian nationals and residents from owning, controlling or managing crypto exchanges and digital asset service providers under the region’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. MiCA is the EU’s crypto regulatory regime for issuers and service providers, making ownership and control restrictions relevant to companies seeking authorization or operating in the bloc.

The United Kingdom imposed similar sanctions on HTX in May. At the time, the UK government said there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” that the exchange supported Russia’s government through the use of financial services and funds facilitated by sanctioned entities.