The Ukrainian Hopko and American Kramer are among the voices rising in support of coordinated Western sanctions against Ukraine’s ruling elite who obstruct justice, violate human rights and engage in corrupt practices. (See story on page 1). One upside to the Russian seizure of Crimea and war against the Donbas is how the United States and European Union worked together to identify corrupt elite in Ukraine and Russia and slap sanctions on their assets or ability to do business or travel in the West.

Western leaders, rather than wasting their time lecturing recalcitrant Ukrainian leaders to change their ways, should use the sanctions tool against wayward individuals in public and private sectors. Heretofore, most Ukrainian targets of Western sanctions have been officials of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration, those engaged in the Crimean invasion or with Russian-backed separatists.

The West should put a scare into people who do not fear being prosecuted for crimes ranging from multibillion-dollar theft to mass murder under Ukraine’s rigged criminal justice system. Poroshenko is zealously guarding the gates protecting the corrupt system. With justice blocked in Ukraine, the nation’s best hope lies with the West, whose officials can impose sanctions based on their own assessment of evidence that, all too often, is being ignored or destroyed in Ukraine.

The elite will get the message and most Ukrainians will be grateful.