State Department Sanctions Russian Officials

The State Department sanctioned two Russian officials for human rights violations, the agency said in a Sept. 10 press release. The officials, Vladimir Petrovich Yermolayev, the head of the Investigative Committee in Surgut, Russia, and Stepan Vladimirovich Tkach, a senior investigator for the committee, were involved in the torture of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city, the press release said.