Elena SMIRNOVA

Director Disqualification Sanction, travel ban and asset freeze

The Secretary of State considers there are reasonable grounds to suspect that ELENA SMIRNOVA is an involved person under the Global Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Persons Sanctions Regulations 2025 as she is or has been involved in a relevant activity, namely trafficking in persons. Specifically, she engaged in the recruitment of Cuban nationals using deception for the purposes of exploitation. Using social media and other forms of communication, she advertised well paid civilian jobs within Russia but, upon the recruits’ arrival in Russia, they were forced to fight against their will in Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. The recruits faced menaces including verbal abuse, threats and imprisonment.

The Secretary of State considers there are reasonable grounds to suspect that ELENA SMIRNOVA is an involved person under the Global Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Persons Sanctions Regulations 2025 as she is or has been involved in a relevant activity, namely trafficking in persons. Specifically, she engaged in the recruitment of Cuban nationals using deception for the purposes of exploitation. Using social media and other forms of communication, she advertised well paid civilian jobs within Russia but, upon the recruits’ arrival in Russia, they were forced to fight against their will in Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. The recruits faced menaces including verbal abuse, threats and imprisonment.

Programme GB-SAMLAReference GIM0053Last updated 5 May 2026gov.uk