EU sanctions list includes Russian deputy prime ministers, ministers, military leaders, journalists
BRUSSELS. Feb 24 (Interfax) - The European Union's list of sanctions against Russia includes high-ranking Russian officials, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Kremlin chief of staff Anton Vaino, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin and State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy.
Sanctions have also been imposed against Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko, the government chief of staff, and Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov.
The list also includes the head of state bank VTB, Andrei Kostin, his deputy Denis Bortnikov, VEB chairman Igor Shuvalov, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Federation Council Information Policy Commission head Alexei Pushkov, and journalists Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Solovyev.
Sanctions have also been imposed against Russian military leaders, including Navy chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, his deputy Vice Admiral Vladimir Kasatonov, Black Sea Fleet commander Admiral Igor Osipov, Ground Forces chief General Oleg Salyukov, Aerospace Forces chief Sergei Surovikin and Air Force chief Sergei Dronov.
The list also includes the wife and mother of businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, Violetta and Lyubov Prigozhin, as well as journalist Konstantin Knyrik.
These individuals are named in a sanctions list the EU published on Thursday.
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to recognize the independence of the Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics on Monday evening. In response, the United States, UK and EU decided to impose economic sanctions against Russia.
The UK has imposed sanctions against five Russian banks: Promsvyazbank (PSB), Bank Rossiya, and Crimean lenders Genbank, Industrial Savings Bank and Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the imposition of a package of sanctions against Russia that includes a number of economic restrictive measures. For example, blocking sanctions will be applied to VEB, he said, meaning it will be included in the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List). He also mentioned Russia's "military bank," referring to PSB, the main bank for Russia's defense sector.
The sanctions will also affect Russia's access to foreign debt markets. "We're implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. That means we've cut off Russia's government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either," Biden said. He only mentioned the primary sovereign debt market.
Sanctions will also be imposed on "Russia's elites and their family members," Biden said.