Since they first separated from Ukraine in 2014, a nexus of crime, corruption and rebellion has flourished in the Russian-backed Donetsk and Luhansk ‘People’s Republics’ (DNR and LNR) as well as Russian occupied Crimea, a new report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) found.

The U.K. announced on Wednesday sweeping sanctions against 178 individuals from the seperatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, family members, close associates, and employees of Russian oligarchs and struck out major Russian Industries from metals to technologies.

Ukrainian lawmakers Sergey Vysotsky, Ihor Lapin and Andriy Levus rallied protesters yesterday in Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Kovel and Lutsk to blockade warehouses allegedly owned by Russia’s largest tobacco distributor, reported the Kyiv Post, an OCCRP partner.