EUBRUSSELS, 24 Feb The European Union on Wednesday introduced a new sanctions package for Russia's recognition of the independence of the DPR and LPR, which included more than three hundred deputies of the State Duma, as well as 22 individuals and four organizations.
Under the sanctions, in particular, were the editor-in-chief of MIA Rossiya Segodnya and RT Margarita Simonyan, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, State Duma Vice Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Senator Alexei Pushkov, head Russian Defense Ministry Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Nikolai Evmenov, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Kasatonov, Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Igor Osipov, Commander-in-Chief of the Land Forces Oleg Salyukov, Commander of the Air Force Sergei Dronov, Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces Sergei Surovikin. Among the parliamentarians sanctioned are the head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov, deputies Anatoly Wasserman, Vyacheslav Fetisov.
The political decision to impose the first part of the sanctions for recognizing the LPR and the DPR was agreed by the EU Foreign Ministers on Tuesday at a meeting in Paris. The EU explained that under restrictive measures, in particular, were deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation who voted for an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to recognize the independence of the LNR and the DNR.
Sanctions are also provided for the banking sector and trade union with territories of Donbas not controlled by Ukraine.
Volodin: The United States chose Ukraine as a point of escalation against Russia However, in the document published in the official journal, the number of defendants turned out to be less — 336 State Duma deputies and 26 individuals and organizations. The new list was added to the EU sanctions regime that has been in place since 2014, providing for the introduction of restrictive measures «for undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.» Until February 23, it already included 193 individuals and 48 organizations. Accordingly, those defendants who could already be on this list were not included in it again.
Inclusion on the EU sanctions list means a ban on entry into the territory of the European Union and an asset freeze on the territory of the Union for individuals, as well as an asset freeze organizations. Citizens and organizations in the EU are prohibited from transferring funds to the persons on the list.
Individual sanctions against citizens of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, whom the European Union accuses of «undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine», were first introduced in March 2014 and have been regularly extended for six months since then.
Formally, EU sanctions under this regime valid until March 15, 2022. They were once again automatically extended for six months on September 15, 2021. The next extension may be announced at the end of February or at the beginning of March.
The situation in the Donbass has escalated in recent days, the DPR and LPR have announced a lot of shelling by the Ukrainian security forces. On Saturday, February 19, the leaders of the DPR and LPR signed decrees on general mobilization, and then turned to Russia with a request to recognize the independence of the republics.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, after a meeting of the Security Council, addressed the citizens of the Russian Federation and stated that considers it necessary to immediately recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.The development of the situation in the Donbass is in the online report >>
The Permanent Representative The United States at the UN promised Kuleba drastic measures against RussiaPosted: Maxim Gorbachev