Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Wednesday, August 21st.

Today on Forbes, a major US defense investor, has links to sanctioned Russian oligarchs.

Venture Capital Firm 8 VC. sanctioned Russian oligarchs.

Venture capital firm 8 VC, which is invested in US defense contractors like Palantir and Andoril,

employs two children of sanctioned Russian oligarchs, Forbes has learned.

This comes at a time when the U.S. government is increasingly concerned about the proximity

of foreign adversaries to Silicon Valley. In 2022, the firm hired Dennis Avon, the son of Peter Avon, a Russian banker worth an estimated

$4.4 billion who at the time had been sanctioned by the European Union and the UK.

The senior Avon was later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2023 for his role operating

one of Russia's largest commercial banks.

Also on the investment team is Jack Mashkovich, who joined in 2018 and is the son of billionaire

Russian oligarch Vadim Mashkovic, a founder of the agriculture

conglomerate Russ Agro.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, the elder Mashkovic was sanctioned by the EU, UK, Switzerland, Canada and Australia

over his alleged ties to the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He has not been sanctioned by the U.S.

There is no indication that either of the sanctioned fathers have any financial relationship

with 8-VC, but their son's roles at the venture capital firm come as the U.S. government is paying

more attention to foreign connections to the tech industry.

Last month, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center

issued a bulletin warning Silicon Valley startups

about foreign adversaries using investment firms to access sensitive data

...